What started as a night full of excitement quickly turned into confusion and frustration for the varsity football team. But through it all, the team found a way to turn their anger into fuel and their homecoming game into an unforgettable win.
With the previous weeks being less intense, the Panthers had arrived at the most important week of their season. Homecoming week for the Panthers had resulted in a change in their practice speed, ensuring they are fully prepared for the big game.
Varsity team captain and full back, Brandon Hamlett, often helped keep the Panthers more motivated and made sure they stayed more focused and paid attention to the small details if they wanted to have a successful week of practice and perform well in their game.
“Practice felt different; it was more intense, and players were actually showing up to practice. Players were hitting harder in practice, and they were trying their best in drills.” Hamlett said. Coaches were more strict on time and improvement; they helped push the players to get better and fix whatever needed to be done.
Once game day hit, the Panthers were ready and full of confidence before the game started. The players were all in the locker room getting ready for the homecoming game. For many Juniors, it was their first homecoming game that they played in, but for the seniors, it was their last.
The Panthers were all pumped for this game. They headed out of the locker room two by two and walked to the field. The Panthers did their usual warm-up after they came out to the field. The Panthers then lined up for the national anthem. As the national anthem ended and the players prepared for kickoff, something was off. The team looked around, waiting for the captains to take the field, and realized that the referees never showed up. That’s when they realized there were no referees.
Athletic Director Benjamin Kruse shared that it’s very unlikely to not have refs show up to a game.
“Not having refs is a situation prior to homecoming that I would have told you was nearly impossible,” Kruse said. We have a system that confirms officials 4 times, and in this case, officials were confirmed nearly a year in advance and still absent.”
Everyone was confused about where the refs were. The coaches went to find the athletic director to see what was going on. Both teams’ coaches and the AD came together to figure out what they were gonna do with no refs. The Union City coach said they’d wait as long as we needed for the refs to get there.
That’s when the announcer Don said that there were no refs and that the game was going to be delayed. Once the players heard that, they all deflated. The players watched the stands go empty as all the people left. It was all chaos with everyone trying to get their money back and leave. Some were still confused about what was going on. Until Coach Killinger told the players to head into the locker room.
Back in the locker room, the mood dropped fast. Players were told they’d have to wait up to 90 minutes for officials to arrive. Some hoped to go to the homecoming dance during the break, but coaches said no. This angered a lot of the players, especially because they could hear the music from the locker room.
“I could hear the music from the locker room, and they still didn’t let us go, which made me even more mad,” Beauregard said.
The wait dragged on as players sat in silence, feeling frustrated. Some knew that they were leaving their homecoming dates stranded. There were 7 out of 20 varsity players were unable to accompany their dates. Some players tried keeping the others motivated, but it wasn’t working; the players weren’t focused.
“I was a little upset about the refs, and mad about not going to the dance,” Sandecki said. Finally, the coaches told the players to get ready to go out to the field. The coaches could tell that the players were angry and upset.
“Use all of your anger and put it all out onto that field, have fun and hit people,” Killinger said. The Panthers headed to the field to warm up again. There were nowhere near as many people in the stands as there were before, but the Panthers weren’t affected and still took to the field with aggression.
“When we got back on the field, I was so angry I didn’t even think about winning the game, I just wanted the other team to know I was mad through my hits,” Sandecki said.
When the game finally began, the team exploded with energy. Beauregard kicked off for the Panthers and sent the ball to the endzone, resulting in a touchback.
As the Panthers dominated, fans began returning to the stands. The energy built again, this time fueled by pride and adrenaline. By halftime, the Panthers were up 12-6, and they didn’t slow down. The Panthers turned what could have been even more of a disaster into a Cinderella story.
