Homecoming Week in Review

Homecoming week, one of the busiest weeks all year for Westside students, has officially come to an end. Theme day outfits scattered throughout the hallways, a wire-to-wire football game with a firework conclusion the yearly crowning of king and queen. Here is a look back at some of the best events within the homecoming festivities.

Parade and Pep Rally

Monday Sept. 21 Westside held its annual parade and pep rally. The parade involved floats from several clubs and groups around the school including that of varsity cheer and DECA. Varsity cheer took the cake in the contest for best float. The pep rally also held spectacles such as the senior dance – composed of senior football players, dancers and cheerleaders – and the announcement of the homecoming king and queen candidates. There were ten senior boys and ten senior girls selected for court. For the full story click here. To see video of the event, click here.

Senior Sweep

DECA held their yearly Powderbuff and Powderpuff games as well to raise money for the Westside Food Bank. Like last year, it was another senior sweep as the the seniors won volleyball versus the juniors in two sets and the senior girls put on a clinic in football, 22-12. For the full Powderbuff recap click here and for the full Powderpuff recap click here. For video on the events, click here for Powderbuff.

Theme Days

Homecoming week helps yield an imagination from the student body as each day there is a different theme for students to dress up and participate in. This year the themes were the following, in order Monday through Friday: mismatch, USA, lumberjack, jersey and neon. Westside Journalism photographers have spent the week compiling some of the best outfits they could find in the hallways. To see the gallery, click here.

Homecoming Game: Westside v. Grand Island

Friday’s game versus visiting Grand Island saw a match up between two teams ranked in the top five in the state. Despite giving up a field goal on the first Islander drive of the game, the Warriors started off hot. After going down quickly, Spencer Jordan gave a spark as he scored on a fifteen yard carry. Later, quarterback Mitchell Hagan hit Logan Duryee for a 67 yard touchdown play. Soon after, linebacker Jacob Kent stripped the ball from Grand Island’s Chris Doty. This led to a touchdown from Hagan to AJ Meeks. The Warriors went in to the locker room with a comfortable 21-6 lead.

Though, as the fourth ranked position indicated, Grand Island wasn’t a team to be forgotten about, taking the lead 24-21 late in the fourth quarter. With under a minute left Grand Island failed a fourth down conversion and Westside had the remaining seconds to stir up a 67 yard drive. After getting few yards on the first three downs, Hagan heaved a pass intended for Troy Suwondo that was a tad long. The clock ran out and Westside lost the game 24-21, putting them at 3-2 on the season; Grand Island moved to 5-0. The Warriors were outscored 18-0 in the second half.

Still, you can check out photos from the game if you click here.

Homecoming Dance and Coronation

The festivities of the week prior all came together on Saturday as it was finally time for the homecoming dance. The Welcome to the Jungle themed extravaganza had the perfect mix of animals, trees, vines and outdoor imagery adorning the school’s entrance. Of course, a main sight of the evening was coronation and the crowning of the 2015 homecoming king and queen.

Senior Elias Ginsberg was crowned king by football coach Brett Froendt in the all anticipated moment. In the following moments, Ginsberg crowned his queen, senior Grace Ward, and the two became Westside royalty for the night.

King and queen were voted on by 10th through 12th graders the past week.

To see images from the night, click here.