On Friday, Sept. 9, the Benjamin football team had a game against Cardinal Newman, who are always one of the Buccaneers’ biggest rivals. As a result, the cheerleaders knew they had to put on a great performance to get the crowd involved. 

Around the two-minute mark in the second quarter, the game was suspended due to lightning. After about an hour delay, the game was postponed to Saturday night. Then, after another rain delay on Saturday’s make-up, the game was finally completed on Monday night. Even though the Bucs lost 36-14, the student section and the cheerleaders did superb work of bringing plenty of school spirit.

Junior Maggie Smith, who is a member of the cheerleading team, was looking forward to the Cardinal Newman v. Benjamin game.

“During the game, I was super excited and had a ton of energy. I think we put on a really good show for the fans. Sometimes, though, the crowd doesn’t really pay attention to the cheerleaders, so we have to be really loud to get everyone’s attention,” Smith said.

Smith believes that there are plenty of great qualities about the team, but there are also some aspects that they can improve on.

“Some of our best qualities are that we are hard-working, we bring positive energy everytime,  and we have great perseverance. On the other hand, we can definitely try to not get nervous before halftime. I feel like that kind of affects the quality of our performance,” Smith said. 

Junior Izzy Casher, who is also a member of the cheerleading team, shares Smith’s enthusiasm. 

“The fans make a pretty big impact because whenever they get excited, we get excited, and vice versa. Sometimes, the student section can get a little quiet and that can cause us to lose our momentum,” Casher said.

Casher thinks that sometimes, the cheerleader’s hard work does not get nearly as much credit.

“Sometimes we feel unappreciated because we put a lot of effort into our halftime routines and the people end up not even staying for it. I don’t think people realize how hard it is really is to be a cheerleader, especially when we are out on the hot field sweating through our uniforms,” Casher said.

Junior Canyon Rauch, who is a frequent attendee of Benjamin football games, was in attendance at the Cardinal Newman v. Benjamin game. He thought that the cheerleaders did a nice job of keeping the fans engaged. 

“It was a big game and I think that our cheerleaders being as spirited as they were really helped to get us (the fans) hyped up,” Rauch said. 

Rauch also believes that sometimes the cheerleaders’ performances get taken for granted.

“They play an important role during the game. Not only do they have to keep the crowd in the game, they also kind of motivate the players in a spirited way,” added Rauch.

As the community continues to work to make sure the cheerleaders get the respect they desire, the squad promises to continue putting on great routines at games.