Saying Goodbye To Friday Night Lights

On Friday, October 22, Fair Grove High School took a moment before the football game to celebrate seniors from football, band, and cross country.

At this pre-game ceremony, the names of twenty-three senior football players, six band seniors, and Fair Grove’s one cross country senior were announced. The football team graduated Kord Adams, Ryken Adkins, Kadyn Barnes, Brayden Bowmaker, Lucas Crutcher, Logan Daniels, Elijah Daugherty, Daltyn Dowell, Anderson Elder, Andrew Faubion, Kyle Fritts, Kade Gallion, Marwan Ghanem, Seth Ipock, Will McMains, Ken Peak, Zeke Schaffitzel, Kody Stayce, Trystyn Steele, Malachi Sutherland, Skylair Teague, Jimmy Vasquez, and Calvin Zuch. The band graduated Alex Bates, Easton Beltz, Serenity Davis, Nicholas Hamp, Zoey Hupman, Alivia Kimbriel, and Lydia Engel.

At the actual game, the Eagles played El Dorado. “Going into the game we knew that ElDo was big and physical but they weren’t anything we should be afraid of,” commented Kyle Fritts (12). Fair Grove came out on top 54-06, keeping the Eagles undefeated 9-0 this season.

Senior Night can be a really sentimental experience, with senior students as well as family members saying goodbye to a big part of their life. Each student was walked out onto the field with their parents or other important people in their lives. The seniors shared highlights and reminisced on memories from their time at Fair Grove. They also spoke about their plans for the future. 

Senior Kyle Fritts shared some of his highlights from this football season. “A highlight from playing football would probably be playing Forsyth this year. We had our all-black uniforms for the first time in Fair Grove history,” he described. Fritts plans on studying engineering and playing football after high school.

The senior cheerleaders were also announced at the game, although there were so many football players this year that they haven’t had their official senior night yet. Senior cheerleader Audrey Williams shared some highlights of her experience this season. “My senior season has been amazing. The chemistry between the girls on this squad is so positive and wonderful. I’m so proud of how far we have come with stunting and if I could be with this squad forever, I would.” After high school, Audrey plans on studying to become an agricultural educator. 

The Cheerleader senior night is currently scheduled for the end of basketball season.