2022 Football Homecoming!
Grace Lewis (11) and Emiley Geen (11) cheering on their class during flag football.
October 18, 2022
Football homecoming can be considered the most exciting week of the fall semester here at FHS. As students settle into their new classes and the weather starts to chill, Student Council begins their preparation for the exuberant event. Each year they work hard to incorporate school spirit into the week by pitting classes up against each other for the spirit stick. The student body loves this type of rivalry, the teachers love to play along with their sponsored class, and the football team loves to see all the support the community gives them on their big night. In order to build up even more excitement for the week, Student Council has the responsibility of hosting pep rallies, coronations, and dances
Every year football homecoming seems to look a little different than the last and this year one big change was made to the schedule. There was no school on game day! FHS got their spirit week cut a bit short on Friday, September, 3oth due to a professional development day for all staff members in the Fredericktown school district. Students were excited to get a day off of school and get some rest before the big game, but not having school on this particular Friday affected the schedule significantly. The annual pep rally got pushed back to Thursday, which some students found a bit weird. A sophomore, Alli Francis says, “I thought it was a bit strange and I wished the crowd was decked out in black and gold like usual.” The students always have taken dress-up days very seriously during homecoming and when they got their traditional black and gold Friday taken away they were a little upset. Nevertheless, Student Council was able to make the most out of the rest of the week by planning extravagant dress-up days and entertaining the student body with some amusing games like a three-legged race, flag football, tug of war, Mr. Blackcat, and a pie-eating contest during the pep rally.
At the pep rally, the homecoming court was also introduced to the crowd. The senior king and queen candidates all paired up with one another and showcased their best handshake; Kindal Neel was with Cooper Durr, Leah Rehkop with Michael Akins, Linley Rehkop with Garrett Marler, Lydia Mell with Andrew Starkey, Rylie Rehkop with McCoy Clark. As each pair walked out the crowd began to roar with cheer in support of their homecoming royalty. That Monday voting was sent out to FHS students to pick who they wished to be crowned during the coronation on Friday and as the campaigning began you could tell that it was going to be a close race between all the candidates.
The coronation took place at 6:20 pm on Friday night to kickstart the big homecoming game. All the girls were decked out in their shimmering dresses and the boys had presented themselves in a sleek manner – football gear and all. As the court walked out in front of the crowds and lined up in their positions, parents and students filed up against the fences awaiting the announcement of the 2022 homecoming king and queen. Once everything was settled and the crowd grew more anxious, Kindal Neel and Cooper Durr were announced as the winners and were crowned King and Queen!
The excitement continued throughout the night as the football team begin their battle against the Desoto Dragons. The game had its ups and downs but the boys were able to pull out an impressive win. Things didn’t go as planned in the first half when Desto earned two touchdowns setting the score to 14-0. As the clock ran down fans started losing hope and the cheers from the student section began to die. This didn’t stop the boy’s determination to win because in the third quarter Nolan Holland (10) threw a perfect pass to Easton Wood (10) for the Cat’s first touchdown. Moments later Leeandre Catchings (10) put the boys back on offense when he intercepted a ball. This set up the opportunity for, quarterback, Nolan Holland to make a pass to Andrew Starkey in the endzone. The score was now tied, but the FHS football team was driven to make another touchdown. Now with only a minute left to play, Garrett Marler seized an opening left by the Dragon’s defense and scored! The student section was beyond thrilled with the 21-14 homecoming win.
All in all many memories were made during homecoming this year, especially with the new addition of having a homecoming dance! This was a highly anticipated event that occurred the following night after the game. The turnout was great and the majority of the students were thankful to have a lively way to celebrate the end of the eventful week of homecoming.
