Despite new football field, Elgin school's Friday game will be played away

ELGIN, Ill. (WLS) -- They were ready to take the field Friday night for the first time since their home turf was destroyed by a mistake involving weed killer; but now last-minute concern is keeping the St. Edwards football team from returning to their field.

The field is in place with lush green grass; it's a beautiful sight to the players and coaches who will use this field for practice and games for many years to come. And to celebrate, they get to throw the ball around on it Friday with Bears football legend Brian Urlacher.

"I've gotten a chance to throw quite a bit since I retired, just kind of hanging out and getting some of their insights - I love when they ask me questions because I want to know what they're thinking about," Urlacher said.

Last month a weed killer-fertilizer mix-up caused the field to be left with little more than dead grass and dirt. Since then, the team has been forced to play all their games on the road.

But the community rallied around the team, and Scott's Lawn Experts donated the new field, which they say is a huge upgrade on what they had before.

"We could never have expected this kind of response, we were thinking we were going to re-seed, put some fertilizer down and hope for the best," said Paul Herrman, the school's principal.

"There's a couple different types of grass, we wanted to make sure it's an athletic grade so we worked with a local contractor that specializes in athletic turf," said Chris Strunk, Scott's Lawn Care.

They were looking forward to a big debut playing on the field Friday night - in addition to being the last regular season game, it's also Senior Night.

But the agronomist from Scotts recommended late Friday morning that the field is not ready to stand up to the pounding of a football game.

"I think everyone went through a few moments of depression and sadness but at the end of the day, you've got a game to play, and the kids get refocused really quick," said Mike Rolando, the team's coach.

Friday's game will be played in Geneva, Ill. If the varsity team wins and gets a good enough seed in the playoffs, they will host a game at the new field.