On October 18th, 2024, Student Council held their annual homecoming court ceremony in the Stone Castle prior to the football game. The senior king and queen were Colin Brown and Ryleigh Tolbert, and the freshman royalty were Knox Keesee and Carlie Harmon.
“It definitely was an honor to be on [court], especially [because of] just being friends with older people because of my sister, so it was nice,” said Harmon.
The pressure was on for everyone nominated, as the final princes and princesses included sophomores Caiden Terry and Kate Walk, juniors Gage Graziano and Bree Adams, and seniors Aubrie Harmon and Mason Harper.
Amidst the stress of being on court, many individuals feel that it’s in moments like these where family contributes the most.
“[My sister] knows more about makeup and stuff—it also just felt nostalgic with her coming back and spending time with me and us getting together like we used to,” said sophomore princess Kate Walk, whose older sister Torey Walk recently graduated and moved away to college.
The same sentiment is shared by junior princess Bree Adams.
“[My sister and cousin] were on [homecoming court] all four years and they each won every single year; it was [always] between them, so it’s like a lot of pressure,” said Adams.
After the winners were declared and the homecoming festivities concluded, the Vikings defeated inter-conference foe Cocke County with a score of 48-6.
“I thought the game would be closer than it was because Cocke County has some talent,” said Defensive Line Coach Chandler.
The Vikings ran a very fast, forward, and aggressive defense.
“Some teams will try to use that against you, and get everyone flowing this way and cut it back on you and they were really good at that,” said Chandler.
The one touchdown the Cockes made was by their quarterback: sophomore Spencer More.
“Their quarterback is really good […] they run something like a stretch play or an outside zone. They try to get a lot flowing with [a] fake,” said Chandler.
After the one touchdown from the Fighting Cocks, the Viking defense completely shut them out.
“Our offense went wild scoring and our defense intercepted it and ran a touchdown back so we had a defensive score,” said Chandler.
The Vikings also had two defensive interceptions by Colson Mattox and Dayne Musick, with Musick returning his for a pick six.
“Pick six is when the defense catches the ball and if you return it to our end zone it’s a touchdown for us, and we just call it a pick six.” said Musick.
Chandler said that the Vikings were “favored.”
“The guys, instead of getting their heads down, responded and played really well,” Chandler said. “I wasn’t expecting us to do as well as we did.”
