‘This Town Loves Football’: Barnsdall Varsity Football Plays First Home Game Since Tornado

People in Barnsdall are celebrating the football team’s first home game since a devastating tornado last spring.

The town of only a thousand people packed the stadium tonight, and people enjoyed getting to see their friends and support the home team.

Friday night football is a big deal in Oklahoma's small towns, and Barnsdall is no different.

“Man, I love football,” said Jason Byers. “This town loves football. After the tornado, we’re just looking to get back to normal as best as we can, and football is a great way to do it.”

 The people in Barnsdall have spent the last four months cleaning up from a tornado that devastated the town in May.

Some students see this new school year as a fresh start.

“Especially after last year, we went through a really hard time, and I think we’ve all kind of, this year, come together as a community and are ready to show them what we have,” said Hailey Gardner.

“We’ve always had a strong community,” said Kadin Ryerson. “After that tornado, everybody just kind of came together even more.”

 Hundreds of people showed up to watch the game, eat burgers, and hang out.

Terry Lemmons is proud the tragedy hasn’t changed the spirit of the people in Barnsdall.

“We are a small community, but we all do have big hearts,” said Lemmons. “And we just want to help each other out.”

Barnsdall’s next home game will be on Oct. 4 versus Woodland.