G.B. East energized by new turf

The Green Bay East football team had extra pep in its step Wednesday when it took the field for practice.

It was the Red Devils first opportunity to practice on the new synthetic turf that has been installed at City Stadium.

“It feels amazing,” Green Bay East coach Brian Nast said. “It’s great. The kids are pumped. They were out here an hour before just walking on it and playing on it. They can’t wait to get out there on Friday.”

The Red Devils open their season by hosting Seymour on Friday in a Bay Conference game.

It will be the first chance for many members from the community to get a look at the new landscape of historic City Stadium, which served as the home of the Green Bay Packers from 1925 to 1956.

While the turf is new, the logo at the 50-yard line features an old leather helmet as a tribute to the stadium’s heritage.

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Green Bay East is the eighth school in Brown County to install a synthetic turf field. The others are Green Bay Notre Dame, Green Bay Southwest, Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, Pulaski, De Pere, and West De Pere.

“It’s nice to see that it all got finished,” Nast said.

“(Players) work hard. They finally get to reap the benefits of a lot of people putting in hard work to get them on this field, so they’re looking forward to it.”

The Red Devils are looking forward to improving in their third season of play in the Bay Conference.

They return Koda Kinjerski at quarterback after he started there as a sophomore last season.

Junior lineman Eli Sergott and Quenton Gellin bring experience and size to the team.

Meanwhile, the senior class is looking forward to trying to pick up the team’s first win on the new turf.

“It’s been great,” Green Bay East senior Manny Bustamante said. “We’ve just been really excited for them to finally build the turf. It sets the tone for our first game, and we’re just excited to play this Friday.”