The Hawklet walked into confession in the Sacred Heart Chapel. He couldn’t talk, so he passed notes to the priest to confess his sin. But this sin wasn’t one he had already committed. It was one he was vowing to do to an opposing football team. The crowd watching the exchange roared with approval.
This was how the most recent pep assembly began on Friday, Sept. 8 ahead of the Rockhurst football game against Liberty North.
The pep assembly starting with a video wasn’t new, but this one had a plot instead of just hype. It generated many laughs among the crowd, which served as a strong start to the event.
“The videos have definitely seen an improvement from recent years,” senior Graham Fuemmeler said. “SGA is killing it with pep rallies and videos so far this year.”
Pep rallies are a very important part of high school sports. They bring attention to the players and the team, as well as help students get pumped for the big game. People dress in theme, do funny challenges and scream their voices away.
“Pep rallies prepare us for the games by building excitement around going to the game,” said senior Jacob Brown.
The games for this pep assembly started with 3-on-3 glow-in-the-dark basketball. This was a new event, but well-received by the student body. The seniors kicked things off by beating the freshman on a bucket from Brady Maher. Baskets were very hard to come by with the lights being off, and most games didn’t see more than one score. The sophomores then beat the juniors in the game after. The championship game started slowly, but seniors Braden Lambley, Cooper Scott and Maher eventually scored enough to take the win.
The next event was karaoke. Two freshman participants performed “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift. Scattered boos rained down from the rest of the student body.
Sophomore Landon Hochstein took the mic as his class representative. His performance of “Sweet Caroline” hit all the right notes, as most of the gym sang along at some point. It was such a hit that it started a mosh pit in the sophomore section. That prompted teacher and coach Jake Bradshaw, who was judging the event, to dock the sophomores a point on their performance.
The juniors followed with a very loud performance of “Revival” by Zach Bryan. The two performers, Henry Algrim and Fletcher Anderson, got their fellow juniors into it, but that was about it.
Representing the seniors, Maeson Tunley came out decked out in a country outfit–complete with cowboy hat–and performed “When It Rains It Pours.” His attire generated laughs from the audience, and people all over the gym joined in his performance.
However, nothing compared to when coach John Morris took the mic. Coach Mo sang “Amarillo by Morning” by George Strait, and received a perfect 10 for his efforts. The crowd was left in awe of his talent.
“I think we all felt Coach Mo had the pipes to sing soul music like that,” Brown said, “but nobody was ready for that spectacular performance.”
The next event was trash can jousting, a very popular pep rally event. The event started with a pair of upsets: freshman Miles McCune beat senior Luke Tyrer and sophomore Luke Franke beating junior Joey Bonino. The sophomores versus freshman championship matchup went all three rounds, with Franke coming out on top.
“Trash can jousting has always been a favorite event of mine,” Fuemmeler said. “I always love watching it so it was really fun to participate.” Fuemmeler served as Tyrer’s “pusher” in the event.
Despite the competitive aspects, all in all, students say the pep assembly was a good reminder that Rockhurst is one big family.
“Absolutely pep rallies bring Rockhurst together,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, it’s just boys being boys and there is nothing better than that.”
