8th grade night: A Wild Night of Football

by: Braeden Seeker

The cheers of family and friends roared out of the bleachers, while the white, blue, and gold jerseys lined up to celebrate all of their hard work on Eighth Grade Night. October 13th, 2020 was eighth grade night for the T.K. Stone Middle School football team. The Panthers took on the Bluegrass Bulldogs and won 35-6. But, before the game, players were announced and walked down the field with their parents. This part of the night specifically celebrates the eighth graders and what they have accomplished during their time at T.K. Stone. The announcer announces the player’s name, number, their parents' names, and who the players would like to thank.

Eighth grade night is a celebration for the eighth graders on the football team and the night celebrates what the eighth graders have accomplished and what is to come for them in the future. Most middle school sports teams have an eighth grade night. Since eighth grade is a student's last year of middle school, this is a nice last hurrah for the eighth graders since they will no longer be going to T.K. When asked how he felt on eighth grade night, number 12 Connor Johnson said, “I felt really good.” When asked what he was thinking he said, “Why am I so nervous?” As a seventh grader on the football team I can imagine that the eighth graders felt a lot of pressure to do good on their night. Our season was full of Covid-19 restrictions and we’re lucky we even got to play, so this night was big for not just the eighth graders, but also for the seventh graders.

The game was played rough, both Bluegrass and T.K. fought their toughest but eventually, T.K. got the victory. The game was full of many triumphs, such as quarterback Caleb Ricks going for a QB run for a touchdown. Although there were many triumphs throughout the night, there was one huge downfall. During the game, one of T.K.’s players, Quinn Ratcliff, broke his wrist on a touchdown run. Quinn is expected to be out for the remainder of T.K.’s season.