New Turf Goes Down In Moore Under Cover Of Darkness

Darren Brown, News 9

MOORE, Oklahoma -- I love those Friday night lights, the sound of helmets hitting, the band cranking out the school song, but not tonight.

I know what you're thinking: "Darren, D.B., it's not even football season yet."

Hey, I know that, but there is some action going on down around the 30-yard line tonight.

Eric Pratt and his crew are installing new turf at Moore Schools Stadium. And they're doing it while the rest of the city sleeps.

"It's just too hot to work during the day," Pratt said. "I mean, the turf heats up an additional 15 degrees at least, at the minimum, beyond what the ambient temperature is."

When the Oklahoma heat threatened to delay the project, the guys changed their game plan.

"Yeah, we showed up. I mean we were gung ho to get started at seven o'clock and work straight through the day, but being that some of the guys had been off work for a while, getting acclimated was just too much," Pratt said.

They even tried two-a-days.

"We tried to work just the mornings and then just the evenings, but that didn't work out so hot," he said.

Well, it did work out so hot, very hot, actually. But it seems it's easier to stretch out 18-hundred pound chunks of carpet under the moon that it is under the sun. That's why they're working 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

"That's why we like the coolness of the night. It takes its toll, that's for sure," Pratt said.

Like true gridiron warriors, Pratt's crew soldiers on through the night, pushing toward their ultimate goal and victory.

"Just a matter of getting it done, a lot of hard work, sweat and blood to get it done," he said.