On Friday, Oct. 25, Westerville South was matched up at home against Worthington Kilbourne. Coming into the game, South’s record was 4-5 coming off a very important win against Franklin Heights last week.
During a neck and neck 31-30 thriller, the Wildcats ended the regular season with a win finishing 5-5 going into the playoffs.
The game itself was very memorable, but the added recognition for seniors made it more emotional for players as well as everyone in attendance that night. For senior night, 50 seniors in cheer, football, and marching band walked onto the field under a banner with family and friends next to them. Each senior was announced and congratulated for their efforts this season.
A rollercoaster of emotions throughout the night brought out tears of happiness and sadness that their high school careers were coming to an end, but the memories will last forever.
Before the game, senior receiver Amari Hodges said, “Getting a win on senior night would mean a lot for me and the team as we hope to go into the playoffs on a winning streak.”
Fortunately, they did just that, and it was a perfect way to celebrate senior night.
Hodges is a first year football player and expressed how he wished he had started playing earlier. He also stars in basketball, last year he got 1st team all OCC honors and will be playing a huge role for the team during the upcoming basketball season.
While football is the main event during these fall Friday nights, much more goes into the game including the cheerleaders and band, whose performances support the football team throughout the game.
Senior Jordan Zerman has been on the cheer team for the past four years and has been on varsity for her junior and senior year. Though she will be cheering in the winter for basketball she explained how it’s bittersweet because “I’m sad my cheer career is coming to an end but I’m ready for new beginnings.”
This year the cheer team has nine cheerleaders with all but one being seniors. Each senior made a poster board of themselves that was presented on a table for people to view.
As far as what to put on the poster board was hard for many of them, Zerman added, “I wanted to make sure I included the people who have always supported me, so I had many pictures of my family and closest friends on there. I also wanted to show my cheer journey from the start up until now.”
Zerman explained the night as very memorable. “Storming the field after the big victory and ringing the bell all together was my biggest memory from senior night,” she said.
Marching band senior Daria Lesmerises played clarinet her first three years, but this season she is honored to be a drum major. Lesmerises has mixed emotions about the season coming to an end.
She said, “I’m just proud of our season, we got a 1 at states, ending our season on a good note; and overall, the season was a success. I’m pretty sad the season is coming to an end, but I’m looking forward to our Disney trip in February.”
Lesmerises described the night to be filled with emotions. She said, “I cried a little after we finished our performance; and it was our last home game, so it was my last time conducting the performance.” She added, “I cried at the end and getting a win on our senior night was so so fun.”
Senior night was definitely a success, as the football team got the win and seniors on the field, in the band, and cheering all were honored for their hard work and dedication.
