Thursday, October 4th the annual “Flag Football” game was held on the Rick Thorpe football field between the junior girls and the senior girls while the boys from the junior and senior classes took on the roles cheerleaders. The class of 2008 was victorious for the second year in a row by a score of 36-6.

Though the class of 2008 had won the year before, the junior class practiced and played as well as they could. “We worked well together and learned and ran the plays well,” said junior Julia McWilliams. “I thought there was a possibility we could win, but only if we played really good. We expected that it would probably be a little fixed though, if it was a close game because last year a lot of seniors were wicked mad when they lost.”

Some juniors felt that the senior’s victory was justified. “The seniors had better matchups and phenomenal coaching. They deserved the repeat,” said junior cheerleader John Costello.

“I think that losing gives the junior class something to strive for next year which will be great drive behind the game next year,” said junior Wyatt Hogan. “The flag football game is something that the whole school can get into and it brings the junior and senior classes closer together, just as long as there’s no harsh feelings after the game.”

“I wanted to do it because it’s senior year. I wanted to do something that I would have fun with, and I wanted to win,” said senior Allison Litera

“We practiced for two weeks in advance. I knew that I would get out there and think, ‘How did I get myself into this,’ but I wanted to participate. When I got out onto the field, it was such an adrenaline rush,” said Litera.

The girls weren’t the only ones practicing hard. The cheerleaders for each class worked tirelessly learning and rehearsing a routine and were coached by junior cheerleaders Maggie Shea, Kelsey Buxton, Elika Nickerson, Miranda Bission, and senior cheerleaders Jen Farrell, and Lisa Pandolfi.

“It was so hard to learn the routine. The cheerleaders mainly thought up the routine with our input,” said junior Andrew Kapinos. Kapinos said that learning and performing the routine, in addition to being very difficult, gave him an entirely new outlook on cheerleading. “I have so much respect for what cheerleaders and dancers have to do. It’s very hard. You really have to know what you’re doing and remember all the parts and then do it to the beat. It’s challenging,” said Kapinos.

The class of 2008 had a secret weapon when it came to remembering their choreography. “It was a little hard to do the routine, but I think I speak for everyone on the team, that when we’d miss a step we’d just watch [senior] Ryan Mackin who I think practiced the routine everyday since last year’s game,” said senior cheerleader Patrick McBride.

Reports of some foul play between the cheerleading squads have emerged. “We made like 30 spirit sticks and the seniors stole a bunch of them and gave them out as theirs. We weren’t very happy about that,” said Kapinos.

After denying the accusations, McBride told the truth. “Okay, so we did. But the crowd loved it. And there’s absolutely no guilt, I loved every second of it.”

The boy cheerleaders weren’t the only ones providing entertainment for the audience. The “Staff Dance Team” performed a dance routine choreographed by English teacher Heidi Drawec to the song “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins during the half time show. English teacher Kristin Browning, who was dressed as “The Minnechaug Falcon” had a great time practicing and performing. “It was a little crazy getting everyone to practice with their schedules but when we all got there we were focused and dedicated. Not coordinated. I didn’t say coordinated.” She was very proud of the show they put on, “It was exhilarating and we did an excellent job.”

The annual flag football game is a popular event that gives the entire school chance to bond and boost school spirit. The end of the night brought smiles to faces of the audience as well as everyone who participated.