While filming “Home Turf” in Salt Lake City, Utah, longtime Hallmark star Nikki DeLoach felt like the production was touched by magic. From a funny script that DeLoach loved the instant she received it to being matched up again with “perfect” co-star Warren Christie, DeLoach told EntertainmentNow that she was in awe of how everything aligned for the movie, which premiered on October 4, 2025.
The only problem they ran into? The cast and crew were stressed about finding enough extras to make the fall football movie feel electric and authentic, DeLoach said, noting that “we’re always working on a budget, which means sometimes we can’t get all the (people) that we need to fill up those seats.” But just as they were getting ready to film some big game scenes, she said, a “miracle happened.”
Nikki DeLoach Says Local High School Students Provided a ‘Day of Miracles’ While Filming ‘Home Turf’
“Home Turf” was filmed in part at a local college and several area high schools, with DeLoach portraying a small college president who reluctantly agrees to let the freshman football players stay at her house temporarily. As the cast and crew prepared to film scenes at Lehi High School, located in a Salt Lake City suburb, she said they experienced one of multiple “amazing moments.”
“These were some big scenes,” DeLoach told EntertainmentNow. “It was a football game, it was a tailgating party after the big game. You know, we needed hundreds of people. We needed cheerleaders and marching bands. We did not have the money for all of that.”
“And then this miracle happened,” she continued. “We call it the ‘Day of Miracles’ because we showed up to the high school and we were all gathered, trying to figure out, ‘What are we going to do? We don’t have a marching band, we don’t have the cheerleaders. We don’t have enough people to be in the stands for this to even look like a football game.'”
“And sure enough, we hear off in the distance a marching band,” DeLoach marveled. “The school’s marching band is playing music as they march out onto the field, followed by so many kids in the school that wanted to be a part of the movie! It was an absolute miracle.”
Nikki DeLoach Says She Was Amazed by Utah Residents’ Generosity & Excitement
HallmarkLehi High School band director Brian Parker told EntertainmentNow that the marching band had “a lot of fun” being part of the movie. DeLoach was amazed and touched by their enthusiasm and the time they put into filming.
“All the kids got to be a part of it,” she said. “And then when we did the tailgating party that you see at the very end of the movie, the kids wanted to stay and be a part of that, too. We were filming late into the night.”
Home of the Lehi Pioneers, the high school community “brought the energy and the fun,” DeLoach said, “because it’s a school that is all about football. They knew exactly what to do. So I have to say that so much of what made this movie really special is that the people of Utah really showed up for us when we needed them … they were just incredible to us.”
“Home Turf” is available to stream on Hallmark+ and will re-air on Hallmark Channel on October 5 at 6 p.m. Eastern time, October 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern time, and on October 14 at 6 p.m. Eastern time.
