All over the morning announcements, Instagram, and chatter throughout the halls of Westfield, I have heard rumors of the esteemed Dog Pound being the best student section in Northern Virginia, and of course, the *mildly* insane Barstool Bulldogs Instagram account.
Despite the hype surrounding high school football, and the acclaimed Dog Pound, I’ve never experienced the excitement of the football game: the social atmosphere, intense rivalries, cheerleading, and marching band performances.
To share my own background with football, I have watched five Super Bowls on television to date, and never been to a game at any level. My knowledge of the sport, as described by one of my football-loving friends, is limited to the “basic basics.”
I thoughtfully prepared for the night’s theme: blackout. Honestly, between my black jeans, hoodie, beanie, and eye black, I looked like I was about to go on a bank robbing spree.
The time is 6:45. The exhilarating yellows, oranges, and vibrant blues of the sunset greeted me upon my arrival at Francis L. Dall Stadium. I was immediately overwhelmed with the masses of people dressed for the black out.
Prior to kickoff, I was quick to learn that most of high school football does not actually revolve around the sport of football, but more so the social culture instead.
Because of the homecoming spirit court winners, one of the biggest highlights, Westfield’s renowned marching band, was performing before the game rather than at halftime. Unfortunately, I missed what I presume to be most of the performance, but caught the tail end of what appeared to be the theme song of their performance, Smooth Criminal. Overall, their setup and performance was really cool. (Side note: huge props to the marching band for getting their bulky set up off of the field and down the hill of the complex so quickly).
There was one aspect of high school football that I walked into the event clueless about, Westfield’s Varsity Dance Team. Off to the side before the teams were announced, I observed the dance team rehearsing a kickline up by the baseball field, and right off the bat, I knew their performance would be one of the highlights of the high school football experience.
Back to the actual football side of things, if my depth of football knowledge was more extensive, the game would have been exciting. After a long huddle around the flat screen HD TV that Westfield Football apparently can afford, a touchdown was scored about halfway through the 1st quarter.
There was, in non-football terms, an insanely athletic run by one of the Westfield players halfway across the field to almost score another touchdown, but ultimately did not score any points. In the remainder of the half, the Bulldogs scored three more touchdowns while allowing Oakton one. Surprisingly, despite what I’ve heard about all of Westfield Cheer’s amazing stunts and tricks, the cheerleading team did one stunt—no flips to be seen—and no push ups after each home team touchdown.
At last, the buzzer indicating the second quarter’s end rang through the stadium. As the football teams were heading back to the locker rooms, the announcer introduced the dance team’s ‘haunted’ performance in light of the Haunted Homecoming theme—the moment I awaited eagerly.
In a crouched formation, the dance team opened their remix with Rockwell’s iconic “Somebody’s Watching Me” followed by “Disturbia” by Rihanna, not a song I traditionally associated with Halloween, but definitely a spectacular choice. Then, it was time for the moment of their performance—the kick line. To say the least, I was completely wowed by the flawless kickline to the Halloween song, Thriller. By far, the dance team was easily the best part of the night, and deserves more prominence on the football scene.
Despite a 42-6 victory over the Oakton Cougars, I left after halftime to catch game one of the World Series instead.
