The Hellgate Knights football team played in their homecoming game on Friday, Oct. 4 against the Big Sky Eagles at the MCPS Stadium at Big Sky High School. The Hellgate student section was a sea of red and gold cheering on their varsity football team with incredible enthusiasm despite the inclement weather.
The Knights scored a safety in the first quarter and then held on to their two point lead until the fourth quarter with 5 minutes remaining. Seamus Campbell, the Knights starting center, said that it was really exciting to be in the lead for so long. “It was the most competitive game we’ve had since week one,” he said. Sadly, the Eagles scored a touchdown close to the end of the fourth quarter and foiled the Knights’ first chance at breaking their now sixteen game losing streak. The final score was 2 to 7.
Campbell said the weather was a big factor in play: “It was pretty cold and windy, and the rain didn’t help,” he said. The inclement weather played a role in the games low final score.
Regardless of the storm, the Hellgate student section really showed up and showed out for their homecoming game. After an absolutely gorgeous clear day, the skies opened up just as the football game was starting. True to form, Montana weather was incredibly unpredictable. The student section wasn’t deterred though, almost everyone stayed for the entire game and cheered their hearts out for the Knights.
Sophomore Camille Cellier said the rain just made the game more memorable. “Everyone was cold and wet, but also having lots of fun,” said Cellier. She implied that Hellgate isn’t used to being up in score for very much of a game, at least for football, so that brought even more energy to the student section. “The vibe was actually surprisingly fun,” she said.
Cellier is also a band member. She said that because of the heavy rain, Hellgates annual homecoming marching band performance was canceled. “That was a good choice on Mr. Dochnals part because playing in that weather would’ve made for a really bad performance,” said Cellier.
However, this decision had some setbacks. “I know that some of the seniors were bummed not to have a last Homecoming game to play at,” said Cellier. The homecoming game is one of the Hellgate bands’ biggest and most notable performances throughout the year, and many seniors have looked forward to it since last year’s homecoming game.
Despite the disappointing result, Hellgate’s homecoming game served its purpose: to bring together both the student body and the football team specifically. Hopefully Hellgate can look forward to better performances for the rest of the season, both on the field and in the student section.
