James Cordova has a long history with Judge.

His dad was a legendary coach here and from his earliest memories he has been roaming the sidelines. As a Judge graduate and former Bulldog football player he knows what it was like to play on the old field that was like a swamp in some parts and mudcaked in other parts.

James Cordova has been at Judge for 21 years, and in that time he’s been a coach, teacher, and now Campus Coordinator and Associate Athletic Director.

When asked about the history of McCarthey Stadium, he had plenty to say.

McCarthey Stadium replaced the grass field was dedicated in 1980. Previously Judge played all its football games at Westminster College. Before that all home games were played on the original football field that was first used in the 1950s.

“The turf field, what we now consider to be the Judge McCarthey Stadium field was built, starting in 2005, with the goal that we play on in it 2006,” Cordova said. By the time the field was ready we were able to play three or four games on it. We had construction lights for our field lights for our Homecoming game that year. We had hay bales up where the press boxes are now. That was where we had our coaches stand. The bleachers were done and the field was done, but the stands and the whole complete enclosure was not completed until the Homecoming game. Then we played the entire 2007 season on that field. We lost to Logan in the state championship that year.

“But then during Christmas break of 2007 I was driving up to school, and I noticed a big hole in the wall. We had a workout scheduled, and I called our principal of time, Jim Hamburge, and said, ‘Hey, there’s something wrong with the retaining wall.’ By the time we got done with Christmas break, the retaining wall out on the corner of 10th East and seventh South had completely collapsed and the field was deemed unsafe and unplayable.

“We were an up-and-coming program at that time. We lost the state championship in 2007. In 2008 we played on five different home fields in seven games, which were our five home games and our two playoff games. We were a good team, probably could have competed again for a state championship. We lost in the second round of the playoffs. I think we were pretty fatigued at that point.

“For the next three seasons we played at Granite High School. We had to bus every day to Granite High School. From Judge that was about a 20-minute commute. So it added 40 minutes to our overall practice time. We didn’t really have a home location. We had no real control of that facility. And we were a good and competitive team, but still not what we could have been due to I think a lot of fatigue. We had a lot of moving pieces, and a lot of unfulfilled promises to the boys. We kept hearing, “Next year we’ll be back on our stadium.” But the lawsuits dragged on and really wore out what were really really good football teams.

“We got back on to our stadium in 2010 after all the lawsuits were resolved. That year we lost in the semifinals to Juan Diego, the eventual state champion.

“I really feel like the years between 2006 and 2010 really robbed us of a lot of our football success. In the mid-teens, we were a powerhouse here, winning the state championship in 2013 and 2014. I think we probably would have been a perennial power from 2006 to 2010 had we not had to deal with the adversity of constantly finding a place to play and a place to practice. We practiced in the parking lot a few times.

After all those years of playing without a home field, the new stadium wall was completed and the stadium was rededicated in 2010 when Cordova was head coach. He now is Associate Athletic Director and Campus Coordinator, and in his new roles he sees the value of the improved stadium with a wider perspective.

“The new field helped us in a lot of ways,” Cordova said. “We are we have soccer playoffs here, we have lacrosse playoffs here. The field is a constant rental source. The Red Wolves play here. The Utah Wild Ultimate Frisbee team plays here. We have such a great field with such a great view that people want to be here as an athlete to play on our field. As a program people want to come here and use our field. It’s absolutely the marquee field in the state. One of the best fields, really, in the nation if you if you look at the view and the setting. It’s an outstanding place to play.

Some of his best memories as head coach were when the stadium first opened.

“When we came back out onto that field in 2007 and again in 2010, the level of inspiration was unbelievable,” Cordova said. “Imagine seeing that bright red wall with the glaring white “Home of the Bulldogs” written across it on that beautiful stadium packed with people, those high posts with the lights. It was an unbelievable place to play a football game, and it still is. But when it was brand spanking new, it was amazing.”