High Schools all over the country celebrate homecoming week during football season. This week is jam-packed with many exciting activities, such as a pep rally, football game, and the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen. Lewis Cass is no exception to this tradition as we commemorated our homecoming last week. The school spirit and Cass Pride were on quite a high last week as the school marked yet another successful homecoming.
Each year, the Student Council here at Cass takes on the responsibility of creating the theme and dress-up days for the week of homecoming. This year’s theme was “Sack the Squires” as the Kings faced off against the Manchester Squires on Friday night. The dress-up days were as follows: Monday: Pajama Day, Tuesday: Down with the Decades, Wednesday: Anything but a Backpack, Thursday: Neon Day, and Friday: School Spirit. The entire week, students and teachers both showcased their school spirit by participating in these dress-up days. Student Council sponsor and the unofficial “Homecoming Coordinator”, Mrs. Burch stated, “There was some really good Dress Up Day participation! The thought of Anything but a backpack can be an ‘interesting’ idea for some…but it is so fun to see the creativity & imagination!! (And there was no shortage this year!)” Overall, the dress-up days were, yet again, a major success.
Another fun activity that took place last week was the decorating of classroom doors and club flags. Each mentor class had the opportunity to accessorize the outside of their classroom doors with anything related to the football game to increase the excitement and enthusiasm throughout the school. Many rooms participated and created some amazing exhibits. A standout, in my opinion, was the maintenance office door that included real football equipment! Also, this year, each club had the chance to decorate a “flag” that was displayed in the hallway during the week and moved out to the football field on Friday night. Many clubs took part in this activity, and the flags looked fantastic!
Not only were there decorations and dress-up days to keep the homecoming mood up throughout the week, but there were also Homecoming Games hosted by the Kings Cast and the annual Variety Show on Wednesday night. In these Homecoming Games, the Kings Cast faced off against the football team in a series of simple and fun games. When asked what her favorite homecoming activity was from the week, Kings Cast member and Homecoming Queen, Aftin Griffin, said, “I enjoyed participating in the Kings’ Cast hoco games even though the football boys destroyed us.” The football team did come out on top, and this proved to be a preview of the outcome of their larger game on Friday.
Finally, Friday arrived, and the Kings could not have been more ready. The atmosphere throughout the school was unmatched as both students and teachers were decked out in Cass attire, gearing up for the big game. Football coaches, Mr. Mannering and Mr. Plank, were even spotted wearing their past football jerseys and letterman jackets! As the day went on, the energy grew. At 2:00, the entire school made its way down to the gym for the annual homecoming pep rally. The band brought the gameday jams as they played hits such as “We Will Rock You” and, of course, our very own school song. The cheerleaders also contributed to the excitement by dancing to these songs. The whole school was pumped u,p and the feeling was electric.
After Mr. Mannering amped up the crowd with a short speech, the games began. The games that took place were the sack race and tug of war. In both games, it was grade vs. grade and broken down into boys, girls, and coed. The sack race took off first, and it proved to be some fierce competition. The coed race was so intense that the senior team of Harrison Clark and Lahleya Perry lost their footing and took a big tumble right in front of the finish line. Seniors Alivya Strong and Aftin Griffin both said that this moment was their favorite part of the whole rally, and the fun did not stop there.
Next up was the infamous tug of war. Each grade faced off to end up with one winner in the end. The gym was continuously loud with every student cheering on their fellow classmates. In the end, the junior class reigned supreme with victories in both the boys’ and girls’ tug of war, and also two out of the three sack races. It is safe to say that the pep rally served its purpose and hyped up the entire school for the big game that was to come.
As 6:00 rolled around, Owen’s Memorial Field began to come alive. The stands were filling up quickly, and the anticipation was high. The first major festivity of the night was the crowning of the 2025 Homecoming King. This year’s king court included Harrison Clark, Jed Frey, Brody Hillis, Trey Johnson, and Gavin Smith. As each king candidate was escorted onto the field, the question loomed of who the next king would be. The moment of anticipation concluded with the crowning of the 2025 Homecoming King… Harrison Clark! When asked if he expected to be named the new king, Harrison said, “No, I was not expecting to win, so I was definitely surprised. My grandpa Kent was there, so that was cool for him to see that.” Clark also mentioned that “It’s cool to be recognized by my peers, and even some that I don’t talk to that might have voted for me, it’s cool to know that you might have an impact on someone you didn’t know you had an impact on. It was also cool to carry on the tennis team legacy with back-to-back kings (Nolan Hines).”
After the king’s crowning, the festivities were far from over. The National Anthem was beautifully sung by the Kings Collective Choir. Choir Director, Abby Guy, was in contact with her brother, who is involved with the Grissom Air Force Base. Mrs. Guy was able to arrange a flyover for the finale of the National Anthem! The plane was flown by four Lewis Cass Alumni pilots. It was a fantastic experience and a full-circle moment. This moment ranked high among the many homecoming festivities. Mrs. Burch said that this was the moment that stood out to her the most from the week. “The Grissom flyover done by four Lewis Cass Alumni, The Grissom Colour Guard/9-11 moment of silence & the singing of the National Anthem by the Lewis Cass Choir…was simply AMAZING!! Made me proud to be a Lewis Cass Alumni & American! It was just the culmination of a great week!!”
The game finally began and proved to be a close competition as the score was 12-8 with the Kings on top at halftime. Halftime brought along arguably the most highly anticipated homecoming event of all: the crowning of the Homecoming Queen. This year’s queen candidates included Aftin Griffin, Anna Hedrick, Ava Hubner, Capreese Jones, and Kylie Logan. Each candidate looked stunning in their dresses, and all were worthy to be named queen. In the end, only one could be named queen, and this year, it was Aftin Griffin! This crowning moment was one that Aftin will never forget. “What I will remember most is all the support I received. Everyone was coming up to me and telling me congratulations and that they voted for me. I never realized the impact I had on people to the point that they would vote me for homecoming queen. My heart dropped once I heard my name was announced. I never would have thought as a freshman that I would win queen in my senior year. The homecoming court was also very supportive, and I loved being around them the whole game.” Lewis Cass is proud to have Aftin as our Queen!
The amazing homecoming night ended with a Kings win! The Kings were victorious over the Manchester Squires with a score of 18-14. This year’s homecoming week was definitely one to remember. Until next year, Go Kings!
From the sidelines to the headlines, this is Lauren, signing out.
