By Sara Beth Williams–
The San Juan High School Spartans football team will be kicking off its first football game of the season in its newly renovated football stadium this coming Friday night.
Friday night’s kickoff game is being labeled a “Red Out” game. For all students who wear red, tickets are only $1 at the door, San Juan High says. Students must have their ID card.
Tickets for the game can be purchased online or at the door. General admission tickets are $11. The Spartans are scheduled to play against Dixon.
The Spartans have expressed optimism for the new football season, local news reports say. Coming off last season with only an 8-player varsity team, the Spartans will now have a traditional 11-man team.
San Juan High School Spartan head football coach Otis Washington, now in his third season as coach, told local news outlets that return has brought a “renewed excitement to the program.”
Washington said he was “excited” and “happy” for the senior football players and is hopeful for what they can do this season.
The $21 million renovation of McArthur Field was officially completed in May 2026 and upgrades to the facilities include a new all-weather synthetic track and turf field, new concessions and ticket booths, new restrooms, new tennis courts, and updated ADA-compliant ramps. The stadium’s bleachers, built of cement, remains unchanged.
San Juan High School principal David Levis called the new modernized facilities a “game changer” adding that the stadium represents more than just a place for sports.
The total budget for the project was $21 million the district reported, with, $17 million going toward construction. The project was approved by the board in March 2025 prior to the groundbreaking in May 2025. The last major upgrades to the stadium were made in 2008, the district said previously.
The stadium remodel project was funded by the San Juan Unified School District’s bond program, specifically the Measure P bond measure, passed by voters in 2016. This bond allows the district to fund various facility modernization, including the stadium’s upgrades.
McArthur Field was named after the late San Juan High School alumnus and WWII veteran Edwin H. McArthur, who served as a coach, dean of students, and principal at the school in the first half of the 20th century. Three of his children were in attendance for the dedication of the revamped field.
San Juan High School was founded in 1913 when the San Juan Union High School District was organized, and its first classes were held in the same year in a temporary building in Fair Oaks. The first permanent building was constructed in 1915 at the current Greenback Lane location in Citrus Heights on land donated by Walter Trainor.
Related: Community celebrates $21M San Juan High School stadium project completion – Citrus Heights Sentinel
