Photo courtesy of MATT STRICKER The Mifflin County football team huddles up prior to a game during the 2019 football season.

Iconic stadium will be remembered for great games, spirited atmosphere

LEWISTOWN – Whether you’re a Lewistown Panther, or a Chief Logan Mingo or an Indian Valley Warrior, you probably have cherished memories of venerable Mitchell Field in Lewistown.

You could have also been a Kish Indian, Rothrock Eagle or Penn Highlands Cougar.

And, of course, all of those schools came together over the years to form the present-day Mifflin County Huskies.

Now as the farewell to Mitchell Field is upon us, athletics, alumni and supporters will come together one last time to give the beloved stadium the sendoff it deserves. The curtain call comes Friday when Mifflin County hosts Red Land in its season and stadium finale.

“Mitchell Field is the home of great memories for so many generations,” said Mifflin County High School Athletic Director Tish Maclay. “Many can recall the great games and spirited atmosphere of being at Mitchell Field.”

“It is a historic field that has outgrown its capabilities and we are excited to move into the future with our new facilities that will benefit not only the Mifflin County School District, but the entire community,” Maclay added.

The $18.5 million Husky Multi-Sports Facilities Project will feature Kish Bank Field at Donald M. Chapman III Stadium, which will become the new home for Mifflin County football in 2025.

Which is why Mitchell Field is getting a sendoff this season.

Walk Across Mitchell Field

The high school athletic department is holding a special event on Friday with its “Walk Across Mitchell Field One Last Time!” Anyone interested in doing so should meet at the scoreboard side of the field at the end of the Huskies’ football game with Red Land.

Those who ever played or performed on Mitchell Field and want to make the walk will be grouped by decade. At halftime, anyone who has made a significant contribution while playing or performing on Mitchell Field will be recognized.

Maclay said Karen Hackenberry will be there to represent her father, Bob, who scored the very first touchdown at Mitchell Field.

Maclay also encourages fans to visit Hometown Ticketing and purchase tickets to the game online due to the expected large crowd. Gates will open at 5 p.m.

Final season on South Main Street and Lindbergh Way

This year marks the final season for high school sports on Mitchell Field. For 90 years, the sports venue situated between South Main Street and Lindbergh Way has been the playing field for local high school sports teams.

After playing at Scout Field for nearly two decades, at what today is called Rec Park, a new home facility for the Lewistown High School Panthers was constructed in 1934. On Sept. 21, under the lights, a crowd of 3,000 cheered on the Panthers as they pummeled Orbisonia High, 41-0.

Hockenberry, a running back, scored the first touchdown and was awarded a pair of corduroy pants from the Montgomery Ward Store for his achievement.

After esteemed Lewistown High School music teacher and band director Palmer Mitchell died, the field was renamed in his memory.

The first event held on the newly-named Mitchell Field was the commencement exercises for the Lewistown Class of 1949.

The first football game on the renamed field was between Lewistown and the Selinsgrove Seals on Sept. 9, 1949. The Panther 11 outscored the visiting Snyder County gridders, 20-14, according to accounts. Red Kratzer, Panther running back, scored the first touchdown on Mitchell Field that evening, but did not receive any pants.

Panthers were a powerhouse

Jay M. Riden, a former teacher, football coach and athletic director at Lewistown High School, coached the Panthers from 1933 through 1945.

In the late 1930s, his teams were powerhouses, with the Panthers’ first undefeated team and had a 16-game winning streak. In 1958, new and improved lights were installed at Mitchell Field atop steel light standards behind the stands.

They were dedicated in the memory of Riden as the Panthers dominated the Captain Jack Trojans of Mount Union, 40-0, for their 13th-straight victory.

Over its nine-decade history, Mitchell Field has served as the home to several other teams, including the semi-pro Lewistown Steamrollers in 1948 and 1949.

During the 1970 to 1972 football seasons, Mitchell Field was the lair of the Penn Highland Cougars, as the one-county high school assimilated the four Mifflin County high schools into one high school with four campuses.

In 1973, the Panthers shared Mitchell Field with rival Chief Logan. In 1988, Chief Logan and Kish merged into Indian Valley, which also used the field.

For 23 seasons, the Panthers and Warriors shared the stadium. During that time, soccer and field hockey teams also called Mitchell Field home.

In 2011, Lewistown and Indian Valley merged to form Mifflin County High School and called the aging field its home.

Fond memories for Hidlay

Former Lewistown football coach Mark Hidlay spent many years at Panther venues and holds many cherished memories from his childhood and adult lives.

“Rec Park and Mitchell Field was my world for most of my early life – so many fond memories – too many to even quantify,” Hidlay said.

He remembers going to watch Penn Highland Cougar games with his parents at Mitchell Field in the early 1970s. His father, Ken, served as principal of the Lewistown campus.

Hidlay also watched his sister, Ann, who was a majorette in the Panther Marching Band, perform at games and competitions. She went on to be a majorette with the Blue Band.

As a kid, Hidlay also remembers the fun times, playing Capture The Flag and Home Run Derby on Mitchell Field during summer playground sessions at nearby Seventh Ward.

As a former athlete, Hidlay was a two-way standout for the hometown Panthers. In 1984, his senior year, Lewistown went 5-5-1 which included a 6-6 tie with rival Chief Logan in his very last game.

Of course, he manned the sidelines from 1995 to 1998, coaching Panther football. “Privileged to coach some fine young men,” Hidlay said.

His fondest moment of all was as a father, watching Health, his oldest son, excel for the Mifflin County Huskies. The 2013 squad captured the District 6-9 championship and advanced to the state playoffs.

Now, 90 years after Lewistown High School initiated gridiron play on the Lewistown High School Athletic Field, the Mifflin County Huskies closed out football play on iconic Mitchell Field some 76 years earlier. After the crowds have cleared the stadium and the cleanup is done, Mitchell Field’s lights will go dark and the gates will be chained for one final time.

Opposing coach look back and towards future

Current Juniata High School head coach Kurt Condo had the opportunity to come to Mitchell Field with several visiting teams.

“As an opponent – starting as a waterboy from Philipsburg-Osceola in 1987 and then a player in the early ’90s and then as a coach at Juniata in 2000s – my earliest memories of Mitchell Field started in the visiting locker room in the basement of the old school building next to the field,” Condo explained.

“That was always a tough atmosphere to get ready for a game,” Condo added.

Now, he wishes the Mifflin County program well as a new era of Husky football begins.