Friday Night Lights were on once again on Friday, Oct. 17th at Theofilos Field. The Buccaneers’ homecoming game was against the King’s Academy Lions. The Bucs came up short, though, 12-13, snapping the Lions’ four-game losing streak.
The Bucs entered the game with a 3-4 record, coming off two straight bye weeks.
“We were definitely energized and ready to go out there and fight right off the bat,” senior Keelan Underwood declared.
The game against the Lions began defensively. By the end of the first half, the score was 6-0. The lone touchdown was a 22-yard pass from senior and starting quarterback Charlie Smith, throwing on the run to senior and wide receiver Kaden Faniel.
“That first touchdown was a big confidence booster on the field and on the sidelines. Everyone was hype on the sideline, and I feel like if we had more of the hype and morale throughout the game, we would have come out with a win,” Faniel noted.
During halftime, the crowd celebrated the announcement of the Homecoming Court, as the Dazzlers and the cheerleaders kept the energy alive under the Friday night lights. Senior Bryce Seger talked about how it was her last time dancing at the homecoming game.
“Dancing has been so fun for me, especially at the football games. I’ve always loved football, even though I have almost no clue about what’s going on during the games. At halftime, though, I helped choreograph the dance for this game, along with the other seniors on the Dazzlers,” Seger noted. “This was my favorite dance we’ve ever done, in my opinion.”
After halftime, morale plummeted. With a second half filled with penalties, turnovers, and punts, the Lions put up 13 points. Both of the touchdowns were by quarterback Fletcher Hodges, who rushed for 154 yards.
“It was tough to stop him. I saw from both the sidelines and on the field how we approached stopping him. He just had a really great game, and we did all we could in my opinion,” senior Julian Luiz said.
Luiz, in the second half, went down with a leg injury and was out for the rest of the second half.
Although a late rushing touchdown from senior Chancellor Reddick put the game at 12-13, Coach Belser decided to go for two points. The pass play was unsuccessful, and that was the game’s last score.
“To be honest, our defense held strong through most of the game. We forced multiple punts and limited the Lions’ passing attack,” Reddick said.
The hard-fought game against the Lions showed the Bucs were not only determined until the final whistle, but also prepared for it.
“We knew this was going to be a gritty game. We wanted to run the ball throughout the entire game, but they just ran the ball better, and they defended our run better,” senior Charlie Smith said. “It felt good when we scored our first touchdown.”
Similar to Smith, Sophomore Kamden Gillis feels the same way.
“It was a tough loss. I knew we could have played better. We tried out everything to combat Kings’ tough defense to understand. We tried passing more in the second half, and it worked well only for a little bit,” Gillis noted. “All in all, we had many chances to take control of the game and missed them.”
Although it was a rough loss, those in the student section still appreciated how hard the football team worked throughout the game.
“I thought that it was a good game. Even though it was a little boring at the start with only one score in the first half, we had such a fun time in the student section cheering on the Bucs,” junior Matthew Null said.
Senior Terrion Ivy-Akins supports the student section’s effort.
“Whenever we are not doing too well on the field and we’re not in the highest of spirits, we always have the student section to help us. They support us no matter what, and I feel like when we play games at home, it’s a comfortable environment for us to be in,” Ivy-Akins stated.
While the scoreboard didn’t favor the Bucs, the energy of homecoming under the lights was tremendous, with nonstop support throughout the entire game.
