Highlight Zone Countdown: Arcadia Raiders

ARCADIA, Wis. — The Arcadia Raiders have been tabbed by their Coulee Conference foes as the team to beat in 2014.

“You know it’s a good feeling but it also puts some pressure on you to know you got to do your best, practice your best, play your best,” said senior John Quinn.

That kind of respect usually naturally comes a season after putting up an undefeated record in conference.

But those high expectations in 2014 aren’t the only thing getting people excited in Arcadia.

Private dollars have funded a FieldTurf project that should be completed early next week.

“They talked about it for a couple of years and everybody was like, ‘Oh that’s not going to happen.’ And then this last year we kind of heard all the plans going into action,” said senior Lee Pronschinske.

Arcadia will become the first Wisconsin school in the Coulee Region to have FieldTurf at their high school.

“It’s definitely upping the level for Arcadia football here. Hopefully we can play on it well,” said senior Taylor Misch.

“I think it got everyone a little more excited, it made the workouts in the weight room a little more intense,” added Pronschinske.

The school was looking for a solution to solve their beat-up field that hosted five levels of football and two levels of soccer in the fall.

“This went back to 2009, we had a state tournament run there and had some opportunities to play on turf,” said head coach Derek Updike. “And then in 2010 we had a flood here, we had to move our Homecoming game to Winona State and play on their turf on a Saturday. We just started to talking about the flexibility it offers.”

Arcadia will debut the new field Friday, August 22 when they host Independence/Gilmanton.