College sport games have been known to be full of traditions that students do to motivate their team. One of these popular traditions includes “the white-out,” most famously exemplified by Penn State.

In October 2005, Penn State held a white-out at their home Beaver Stadium during their nationally televised game against Ohio State. They repeated this new tradition more recently at the Notre Dame game on September 8, 2007. Penn State has not lost a game while wearing all white clothing and painting faces white.

Other schools have copied this tradition and this year a group of students at the high school decided to plan a “white-out” in support of varsity football team in their game against Longmeadow on October 5th.

Longmeadow has been a rival in sports to the high school, so for this game sophomore Corey Popp planned to mimic Penn State and organize a white-out.

“I had saw Penn State do it and decided to follow them,” said Popp.

In early September, a group of fellow sophomores helped Popp plan it out, including Pete Campfield and Kwabena Boaten-Adusei.

“We set up a Facebook group,” said Boaten-Adusei. Through the group, Popp tried to invite all the students from the high school that he knew. He hoped that people who joined the group would then invite their friends. The plan was also conveyed to parents and other falcon fans in the community via word of mouth.

That night, groups of students got together to organize their white outfits and help each other cover their faces in white. When they arrived at the game, all participators gathered at the left side of the stands and cheered for the Falcons.

Junior Eric Franco took a part in “The White-Out of Minnechaug” by painting his face and dressing in all white. “It was fun to participate in it,” said Franco. “I think it was a good and fun way for everybody to get together to support the football team.”

The atmosphere was a lot like a college football game as the participants shouted from the stands and did other moves more often seen at college games. “We had pompoms and foam fingers,” said Franco. “We would yell a lot when a big play would happen. Because of this, it was really easy to get into the game and cheer on the players.”

“It was way more successful than expected,” said Boaten-Adusei. “Chaug also played very well, and they gave us hope!”

Popp was unable to make it to the game due to a prior commitment, but he was happy to hear how well it went when he returned. “For the first time, it was okay,” said Popp. “It was on short notice, so maybe next year we can try to do it again with more success.”

Though the Falcons did lose that night, they played very well. With the band performing during halftime and the students adorning one of the school’s colors, it was a school-spirited night. Perhaps another white-out will be planned for next year, and it will lead to the Falcons taking a win over Longmeadow.