“Friday Night Lights”. What most high schoolers look forward to at the end of a week. For one Junior football player, Josiah Rittenhouse (11). The past two weeks have not only been for him but for the team also.
“The past two weeks we have definitely learned to trust each other more,” Rittenhouse said.
The football team started their season off good with a win against Sevier County, but not long after they had taken two losses the next two weeks. Luckily the team worked together and not as individuals. That has led to them now having a two-week game-winning streak.
“[I want to keep the winning streak going] because it gives you more motivation to make yourselves better for the games after,” Rittenhouse said.
This past week, the team had a “bye-week”, a time to not stress about any games and communicate with each other as a team.
“We are going to watch film [from the past games] and put in extra work and practice for our game next week,” Rittenhouse said.
Rittenhouse has also said that these past weeks, where they have won, have added another bond to the team as a whole.
“We have learned to trust each other, these weeks because we have to know to rely on each other in positive ways. And also in ways where we have to be uplifting and not bring each other down. These past few games have allowed us to do that, in both ways. So I am looking forward to seeing where it takes us in the weeks to come. Although the football team is a big part of the FNL, there is one thing that makes it even more special, and that is the student section.
For Juniors, Kymber Carroll (11) and Harper Wiley (11), dressing up is one of their favorite things to do.
“Dressing up makes me and my friends feel more involved in the games because it gives us something else to look forward to,” Carroll said.
Every week, there is a new theme so it makes the students look forward to something new. Wiley is a star in the student section because everyone knows that she’s going to show up and show out.
“My favorite theme has been Neon Night because me and my friend Myah dressed up in all pink. We even had pink wigs,” Wiley said.
For some, the football game makes no sense, and so being able to dress up makes them feel like they can be involved in the “basic” ways. Wiley and her friend Myah are some of the biggest supporters and hype people we have in the student section. They definitely know how to keep the party going, especially if everyone else is down.
“Me and my friends always match, and by matching we show our school spirit,” Wiley said.
School spirit can be shown in many ways whether being on the field or showing up in the student section with a different theme every week.
