At Cathedral Prep, it is considered tradition to have a rally before a big sporting event. Two Fridays ago, Prep held their first rally prior to their football matchup against McDowell.
To start the event, Jared Lichtinger appropriately addressed the student body with an opening prayer. After his prayer, the crowd was more than ready to get rowdy and enjoy the rally.
Following the prayer, teacher William Steadman led the drum line in playing several impressive performances. After they concluded, the meat and potatoes of the rally began.
The lights of the auditorium faded off and the glow of a projector light illuminated the massive screen on the stage of the auditorium. As per recent tradition, a rally video was played.
“[It took] months to make,” rally crew member Andy Samuels stated, “But that was mainly due to poor time management.”
The video was roughly seven minutes long, featuring recently retired iconic Prep teachers Mr. Peightal, Mr. Alexa, and Mr. Daeschner. Concluding the skit, the rally team was shown running to the auditorium entrance, effectively beginning the festivities of the event.
The crew ran up the aisle and onto the stage, causing complete mayhem and enticing adrenaline rushes from the crowd. Once they began to settle, it was member Andrew Stark who began the live rally. He read off a plethora of inside jokes, bringing forth laughter and excitement from almost everyone.
After his performance, the look-a-like portion of the rally began. With comparisons that included fellow rally member Mike Norfolk looking like the caveman seen in Geico commercials, the segment definitely drew its fair share of laughs.
Following this funny slideshow, rally crew members Liam King, Ethan Taraski, and Chase Paglia came upon the stage with a table. Setting it down, they called up football players Amani Robinson and Jeffery Bone. From there, they conducted a mock interview with these players, asking several questions, hinted with humor and sarcasm. Once again, the crowd responded with laughter and surprise to the questions, furthermore hyping up the crowd for the game to come later that night.
After a couple performances that included cheers such as the “I’m a banana” and “roller coaster,” the lights then dimmed and the theme to Jaws began to play. From there, the crew leaped into the crowd and into the back of the auditorium, scouring for a particular freshman. After finding one, they carried him back onto the stage and hoisted him upon their shoulders. And, per tradition, he was demanded to chant the letters to “P-R-E-P” and declare the school as champions. Doing so flawlessly, the crowd went into an uproar in approval, and he was the released to go back to his seat.
The event concluded with his chant and with the crew reminding everyone to show up to the big rivalry game. Everyone left the show room excited and eager, prepared to go to war with the opposition.
“Yes,” Andy replied when I asked about the possibility of future rallies this school year, “we plan on having a few more in the 2018-19 school year.”