Skip to main content

Patriots football set for inaugural year

Aug 01, 2019 11:30AM ● By Greg James

The Patriots have unveiled their inaugural football schedule. (photo courtesy of Patriots Football)

By Greg James | [email protected] 

The brand-new football program at Providence Hall High School is hoping to make its mark on the community.

“We thought it would be cool to have one big event,” Patriots’ head coach Cal Williams said. “The kids can come out and watch the red and blue game, and afterwards we will have a camp and play some games.”

The inaugural red and blue game is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. at the home of the Patriots’ football team, Zions Bank Center, home of the USL Real Monarchs, just a couple of miles down the road from the high school campus. 

“We are going to work on position specific drills and game type stuff and end it up with a game called bubba ball,” Williams said. “They play Bubba Ball in North Dakota; it is like a religion; every kid plays it. It’s sort of like ultimate frisbee with a football. This way, everyone is included. It’ll all be under the lights in our big stadium.” 

School officials originally planned to build a stadium in front of the school, but after careful consideration and cost analysis, they have decided to lease space at Zions Bank Stadium.

“We signed a long-term contract with Zions Bank Stadium,” Williams said. “We did the math, and we could play at Zions Bank Stadium for 68 years. It instantly gives us the coolest stadium in the state: the video board and 5,500 seats. It will be a special experience that our boys will have and not many other teams will get. We took our kids on a tour, and they got to see the locker rooms.”

The Patriots will play this season as an independent and are not eligible for the state playoffs. After this probationary season, they can be reviewed by the Utah High School Activities Association for full membership. Their first game is scheduled for Aug. 16 at Richfield High School. They will host Grand County in their first home game Aug. 23.