The students of Portage High School came together in the gym after school on Friday to show their school spirit in advance of the Homecoming football game against Crown Point.
The 2011 PHS Pep Rally featured student sections divided into the four classes of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors. The event was filled with loud cheering from the ecstatic crowd. Many of the students were sporting their black Homecoming shirts with the slogan “Grill the Dogs.”
Math teacher Nick Haas emceed the event, while student council chair Emily Evans put everything together. The marching band played the Portage Fight Song as the Pep Rally opened up. The senior dancers, poms team and cheerleaders all performed during the event.
Each fall varsity team was introduced one by one. Volleyball, girls cross country, boys cross country, girls golf, boys soccer and girls soccer were all represented.
Each football team captain came to the microphone to thank the fans for their support of the team and say a few words about the matchup with Crown Point. Joey Little, Patrick Doyle, Antony Rodriguez and Dan Luna are the four captains. Head coach Jeromy Flowers also took his turn to address the crowd. He glowed with anticipation for the game while running around the gym and interacting with the attendees.
The five Homecoming Queen nominees participated in a contest in which they were forced to search through a pie using only their mouths for blue M&Ms. However, they soon found out that there were actually none in the pies!
The covered spirit stick was up for grabs once again this year, with the stick going to the class that cheered the loudest during the cheer competition. The Class of 2012 won the spirit stick, which was based on the votes of a panel of judges, becoming the third straight senior class to do so. Senior class president Shub Multani then pied freshman class president Max Harsha in the face. The freshman finished last in the running for the spirit stick.
Although the classes were competing against one another for the spirit stick, the main goal of the Pep Rally was for Portage High School to come together to support the football team. The turnout at the session was outstanding, one of the best in recent years.