On the chilly afternoon of September 26, 2025, the Pop Keeny was filled to the brim with thunderous cheers as the football teams of Bothell and Skyline High Schools faced off against each other. Among the bright lights and excited fans in the stands was a journalist who has little to no idea on how football works. As many of you know, the Homecoming game is usually football and a part of the overall school Homecoming tradition. I am not too familiar with football, but I had to go to Bothell High School’s homecoming game for choir. So I decided to record what I saw since I was already there.
After the choir finishes singing the national anthem, the players run to opposite sides of the long field. Then, a handful of players run to the middle area where a football is placed in the middle of the big white circle. It seems like the Spartans, Skyline’s Football Team, have the ball first, so the Cougars, Bothell’s Football Team, charge towards and tackle the Spartans. This leads to loud cheering from the audience. I think I saw someone throw a shoe. Anyways, the Spartans failed to get the ball past a mark on the floor four times so now the ball is given to the Cougars. The Cougars eventually get a touchdown(?), giving them 6 points on the board which soon turns to 7 points. After running back and forth across the field, and a lot of students tackling each other, the Spartans also get a touchdown which ties the game.
There is now a 20 minute timer on the board and all the players have left the field for what I assume to be the halftime break. The Bothell High School marching band then comes in and plays for about 10 minutes. Once the marching band finished playing, a group of students brought out a large sign to show off the Homecoming Court nominees to the audience. Afterwards with 1 minute of breaktime left, both football teams exit their buildings to run across the field before starting the second part of the game. About 4 minutes into the third quarter of the game, the Spartans managed to get another touchdown, leading to a score of Cougars 7 and Spartans 14. This point score would also be the final point change for the rest of the game. Both teams would continue to go back and forth across the field, neither managing to score another point. There was an attempt by the Cougars, with one of them throwing the ball across the field, but it did not manage to go through the large score forks.
Overall, this homecoming game was an interesting experience. Although the Cougars lost, the energy and school spirit displayed by the students and adults in the audience was very impressive. From the deafening cheers to the loud whistling, their passion for this game is pretty evident. Perhaps this overwhelming passion and school spirit will make up for this loss the Cougars suffered here.
