photo credit: Jenna Frase
This season there were 10 in-season football games. The team’s record was 8-2, and they won OCCs. At every game, the Pit was there supporting and was decked out in different themes. Student section leaders, seniors Alexis Knisley, James Wimsatt, Joey Woods and Jake Barnhart chose this year’s themes and led the student body in each game.
USA is the best football game theme this season. Students went the most all-out for their outfits for the USA game. This theme has endless opportunities for outfits. Students dressed up as George Washington, eagles, the Statue of Liberty and decked themselves out in red, white and blue. The colors complement each other well and bring patriotic spirit into the student section. Red, white and blue blended the Pit together and made the student section look united. The USA theme is always against Berlin, district rivals, which makes the game more intense and drives students to be spirited. It is also a tradition to always throw powder at the USA game.
The country-themed game was the second-best theme this year. In past years, Orange has not done this theme, so it was fun to dress up for a new theme. This game gave students an opportunity to wear their cowgirl/boy boots and hats that they only get to wear on special occasions. Also, a common clothing piece to this game was flannels, which made the student section look all together as a group. Typically, girls in the country wear their hair in braids, so this game allowed students to make their hair part of dressing up. The country game is also fun because students can listen to country music to hype themselves up.
Another great theme this year was camo. Camo is great because it blends the Pit together and looks nice as a group. The concept of camo is perceived very well because everyone looks conjoined. This game is great for face paint that will help correlate with the green and brown colors even more. Hunting gear and other camo shirts that are not worn often are utilized for this game.
One of the most spirited games of the year is orange out. The orange out is special because it helps the school stand out from the rest. Orange is not a common school color in the Columbus area, so Orange is one of the only schools with this FFN theme. Traditionally, the orange out is always the first game of the season and is home. This attracts more students to attend, therefore increasing the school spirit. The orange out creates a sense of unity and school spirit for the students, staff, players, cheerleaders and even spectators.
The pink-themed football game is the most meaningful game of the season. It is always during October because it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Students wear pink ribbons to symbolize hope and to bring awareness to the disease. Pink is a bright color that pops, which makes the student section stand out.
The white out is typically a more basic theme, but this year the student section leaders added a twist to it and made it white lies. This amped up the creativity of students and made this theme more fun than in past years. The white lies project students’ personalities and generate conversations between students about what they wrote on their shirt. Some students just did white out and no white lie, so this theme should be specified to just white lies to make it more unique.
The tropical game is always a fun theme. As a tradition, the tropical theme is always the homecoming game. This theme kicks off homecoming weekend with joyful spirits. Almost every student was wearing a lei and if they were not, the leaders gave them one. Although this theme is festive and fun, it is normally later in the season when it is cold. This theme is warm and centered around the beach which makes it difficult to follow in the chillier weather. Also, a tropical theme is quite common among high school student sections.
The neon game is enjoyable but basic. Every high school does this theme every season, including Orange. This makes the theme seem repetitive and makes it hard for students to differentiate their outfits from year to year. However, it was fun to wear colors that do not typically incorporate in most wardrobes. Also, this season the student section threw crushed up chalk at the neon game which increased the spirit and brightened up the Pit.
The black out was a surprisingly good theme this year to close out the regular season. Although it is just a color, the vague theme allows students to get creative and add some spice to their outfit. Eye black was used for this game in many ways. Students drew batman masks, cat whiskers and even added glitter to their eye black. The black out theme also gives off a tough vibe for the student section to intimidate the other team and other students.
Finally, the jersey themed football game is ranked last. Students tend to wear all types of jerseys from different sports. This creates a scattered look for the student section and does not unify the Pit. Consequently, the jersey themed game gives students a chance to show off their favorite team or player. This adds some uniqueness to the student section and allows students to be themselves.
Week after week, the students went all out for the themes to unite our student section. Every theme amped up the excitement for the games and encouraged students to come. However, the USA theme was the best because of the students’ dedication to the theme and their creativity for their outfits.
