For nearly 10 years, St. Thomas has opened the O’Shaughnessy Stadium gates on Friday nights to the Cretin-Derham Hall football team, coaches and fans, and the university has been earning about $2,400 a game in the process.

Palmer Field has become a second home for the Raiders and their fans who will flock to campus for four home games this season, racking up nearly $9,600 this season from turf-time.

St. Thomas’ Athletic Facilities Manager Dave Lepp said the university also takes in profits from concessions that St. Thomas students operate.

Lepp said the partnership originally started a decade ago with new turf.

“With artificial turf, we really could have more activity out there.” Lepp said.

Lepp said before the artificial turf was installed, Palmer Field could only take so much wear and tear. Between St. Thomas athletics, campus events, and bad weather, the university would not have been able to maintain the field’s playing surface.

Senior safety Tyler Erstad said sharing the field with the Raiders has had no effect on his team.

“They don’t practice or play at the same time that we do, so I don’t even notice,” Erstad said.

Cretin-Derham Hall Athletic Director Jodi Loeblein-Lecker said the high school’s campus in Highland Park is not large enough to house a football stadium. Before the partnership with St. Thomas, Cretin-Derham Hall played in the St. Paul City Conference. At the time, the city conference teams rotated playing games at two different sites.

“There were two major stadiums used when we were in the St. Paul City Conference: Harding and St. Paul Central,” Loeblein-Lecker said.

In 2002, Cretin-Derham Hall left the St. Paul City Conference, and eventually moved to the Suburban East Conference. At that point, the Raiders needed a home field where they could take on new rivals.

St. Thomas and its new turf field seemed like the perfect location for the local team. When the turf was added in 2002, the partnership began between the university and Cretin-Derham Hall.

The Raiders have been renting the field on fall nights ever since. Between regular season and playoff games, St. Thomas normally hosts the Raiders deep into the fall.

“We’ve had up to seven games (a year) and as few as five,” Lepp said.

Junior defensive lineman and Cretin-Derham Hall alumnus Riley Dombek has enjoyed using the same field for both high school and college football.

“I think it’s a special thing that I get to share with my teammates from Cretin who I continue to play with here at St. Thomas,” Dombek said.

Loeblein-Lecker said she agrees that the partnership between the high school and the university is beneficial because high school students are able to briefly see the inner working of a college student body.

“I think that our Cretin Derham Hall students have a lot of familiarity with St. Thomas … there’s a connection to that campus and that facility,” Loeblein-Lecker said.

However, junior Cretin-Derham Hall alumnus Maggie Harris said the partnership has taken away the allure of the college football experience.

“In high school, I think you get a glimpse of what college is,” Harris said. “But on the downside, going to St. Thomas football games loses its appeal because we already have experienced the stadium.”

Loeblein-Lecker said there is definitely an advantage for both St. Thomas’ athletic programs and Cretin-Derham Hall’s students.

“We’re very fortunate that we are in a metro area with great college campuses that have been open to having us around,” Loeblein-Lecker said.

Alex Goering can be reached at goer8777@stthomas.edu.