Walter Boyd Field literally rises out of the cornfields for motorists heading south on Route 51 toward Decatur. The stadium is home to the Maroa-Forsyth High School football and track & field teams (the school's soccer coop with Warrensburg-Latham also uses the field). The field, which runs east-west, is surrounded by cornfields from the south and east, while the high school is directly north of the field and Route 51 slinks around it to the west (
see Google maps sky view to the right).
The field is named for long-time Trojan football coach Walter Boyd, who compiled a 94-83 record during a 22-year tenure from 1948 to 1969. Although Boyd has since passed, his family remains actively involved in the school via a scholarship fund named in his honor that provides scholarships for graduating seniors. The football program experienced success throughout the years, reaching the state title game twice under Fred Thompson in 1981 and 1983, but went next level shortly after Josh Jostes took over the coaching reigns in 2000.
Jostes has led the Trojans to two state titles and two second-place finishes, including a Class 1A crown in
2012, the year Walter Boyd Field added an artificial FieldTurf surface and its track. Walter Boyd Field has offered a significant homefield advantage, as the Trojan football team has posted a 20-3 record in home playoff games since 2004.
Covering the renovation in 2012, the
Decatur Herald & Review's Justin Conn wrote "the Royal Blue end zones, mid-field "MTF" logo and green field with white lines are so bright and colorful they look like they’re glowing to cars driving by the school on U.S. Route 51."
The photo tour of Walter Boyd Field below begins in the high school weight room:
Click here for a panoramic view of Walter Boyd Field
