This year, the traditional rivalry game between the McCallum Knights and Anderson Trojans that kicks off football season was renamed to the Shoal Creek Showdown from Taco Shack after the eponymous sponsors changed hands. Leading up to the game, Blue Brigade, band and cheer led the first pep rally of the season, and McCallum students wore tropical spirit day attire. As for the actual game itself, the Knights lost 37-2 to the Trojans, with the Trojans beginning their lead in the first quarter and increasing it over the course of the game.
We are proud to present the Shoal Creek Showdown as this week’s Thursday Top 10.
PRACTICE MAKES PREPARATION: Junior Opal Rodgers (right) performs for her class at her first pep rally as a Blue Brigade officer. This year, a new title for her comes with new responsibilities. Rodgers is a newly minted Blue Brigade officer and is proud of her improvement since freshman year.
“I got to stand and dance in the front, which I loved because it made me feel like all my work to get to where I am today paid off,” Rodgers said. “Not only do I have to know what’s going on, but I also need to make sure everyone else knows what’s going on and are following the rules.”
Being an officer on Blue Brigade during the Shoal Creek Showdown isn’t just about performing, it’s also about preparing the team in the weeks before.
“We start preparations for [the Shoal Creek Showdown] about two weeks before school starts,” Rodgers said. “We teach both our traditional Blue Grey and Hey Baby dances, then we try out the girls for the dances and set formations after we have our list of girls in the dances. After that we work on cleaning the dances and make sure they’re game day ready.”
For all of Blue Brigade, their Shoal Creek Showdown day lasts from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. in order to fit in the most spirited competition, the pep rally and the actual game.
“I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and was at House Park by 5 a.m. to be on the news and get results for the voting for most spirited,” Rodgers said. “At the end of the game, we pack up and usually get back to school at around 11 p.m. Overall, I think that it was a really fun experience and I’m excited to see how the rest of the season goes.”
Caption by Harper Maxwell. Photo by Julia Copas.
TOP OF THE PYRAMID: Senior cheer captain Selene Medina performs at the annual Showl Creek Showdown pep rally. This performance allows the cheerleaders to uplift the crowd and show the skills the team has been working on throughout the year.
“I always look forward to performing our cheer routine for our student body and staff because it allows us to experience McCallum’s school spirit firsthand through the bleachers full of students,” Medina said. “These pep rallies are so much fun as we get to showcase our skills and hear the crowd cheer us on.”
During the pep rallies, the cheerleaders get to do many things they don’t get to do at games, like play pep rally games, sing the school song and do victory chants. Along with this, cheer performs its pyramid, which is a complex stunt that involves flyers, bases and many difficult skills.
“My favorite part of our performance is always the pyramid, as we display our connected stunt series and excite the crowd,” Medina said.
The day of Showl Creek Showdown is like none other. The cheer team puts a great deal of effort into preparing for the day, which starts at roughly 3:30 a.m. for the cheerleaders.
“The cheerleading team spends weeks preparing for our highly anticipated and biggest rivalry game day against Anderson, working on stunt routines, band dances, cheers and dances,” Medina said.
Caption by Reese Clinchard. Photo by Julia Copas.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE: Junior lieutenant Emma Simon links arms with her Blue Brigade teammates at the annual Shoal Creek Showdown pep rally. Blue Brigade performed their dance titled “Blue Grey,” which is a jazz kick dance that includes the tradition of linking arms and getting the team ready for the dance.
“The senior members shout “what time is it,” to the rest of the team in which they yell back, “knight time,’” Simon said. “It’s almost like a send off for kicking off the seniors’ final season with Blue Brigade.”
Simon said that “Blue Grey” is a dance that the crowd loves as well as the team. She said it’s special to watch the fans interact.
“It’s always a favorite between Blue Brigade and the audience, it brings a lot to our first pep rally of the year,” Simon said.
Simon was recently announced to be a Blue Brigade officer this spring, stepping into a new leadership role for the team.
“Aside from just teaching dances and assigning formations, officers have to lead the team by example in order for everyone to succeed,” she said.
Caption by Sienna Martens. Photo by Adele Seeboth.
CAPTAIN’S CADENCE: Senior Blue Brigade captain Chloe Seckar-Martinez performs the officer cadence and traditional dance “Hey Baby” during the halftime show of Shoal Creek Showdown. The cadence gives the officers a chance to get acknowledged before performing alongside the rest of the team.
“Our officer cadence we are using now is a shorter version of the officer cadence that has been around for many years,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It is very special to get to carry on the tradition.”
The cadence is a combination of tricks including, a turn, leap, kicks, salute and a calypso.
“Although it may only be a few eight-counts we try to pack it in to make it look entertaining for the audience,” Seckar-Martinez said.
The team performs “Hey Baby” every year at the McCallum vs. Anderson game, making it one of Seckar-Martinez’s favorite traditions.
“I don’t think it has hit me yet that I will never be performing that dance again,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It has so many memories attached to it because I have been watching and dreaming of performing that dance ever since I was little.”
Seckar-Martinez’s sister, Addie Seckar-Martinez, was the captain of the team for the 2020-2021 season so she has been watching this dance for many years.
“When my sister performed it all I wanted to do was be right on the field doing it beside her,” Seckar-Martinez said. “Imagining that I am done performing that dance is crazy.”
The team has been working on the dance during their summer practices in preparation for the game.
“We try to give at least two weeks in advance so when we teach a field dance so we have time to clean it,” Seckar Martinez said.
After teaching the dance the team has to tryout to perform on the field and get their formations. Once they know who is in the dance, they begin to clean.
“When we clean a dance we are trying to make it so that everyone down to their fingers are doing the same exact thing,” Seckar-Martinez said. “It takes a long time but it is so worth it.”
The final step before reaching the field is to go out with the band the day of the game. Seckar-Martinez, alongside the other officers, helps set the formations on the painted field in the band lot.
“It is so fun because we are all so excited and we get to do what we love with the band,” Seckar- Martinez said.
The game was one of Seckar-Martinez’s first times getting announced as captain on the field, although she has been working as the captain since April.
“It has been one of the most rewarding and best experiences I have been through,” Seckar-Martinez said. “This team is genuinely so special to me and being able to lead them has been one of the best experiences.”
Caption by Carson Duncan. Photo by Julia Copas.
LAST TIME WITH THE GUYS: Senior Max Fullerton grins arm in arm with his fellow football players during the school song at the Shoal Creek Showdown pep rally on Thursday, Aug. 29.
“It’s been a fun experience with the pep rallies,” Fullerton said. “It’s always a hype atmosphere.”
Leading up to the Shoal Creek Showdown, there was a myriad of events for students to participate in. For Fullerton, the finale of the week was the game against Anderson because of the effort the team put in.
“My favorite part of Shoal Creek Showdown week was definitely gameday because even though we lost, we’d been working all summer towards it,” Fullerton said. “It’s a bittersweet moment with the last Anderson game because it’s the last time playing that huge game with the guys.”
Caption by Arwen Pelletier. Photo by J. Frank Webster.
SHOWED OUT FOR THE SHOWDOWN: Senior captain Lilia Williams brings the hype during the cheer team’s introduction routine at the first ever Shoal Creek Showdown pep rally. This is Williams’ fourth year cheering for McCallum and she says she was really impressed by the team’s work this year.
“Our dance and stunts looked great, which I was so proud of,” Williams said.
Williams said she loves the chemistry that the team has, and the work ethic.
“I love being around the team all the time,” Williams said. “The team has a great bond and it’s so much fun to be around.”
Along with Williams in the photo are junior Julia Van Houten and senior Selene Medina. According to Williams, her favorite part of cheer is doing it alongside her friends, working together to get the crowd excited.
“Getting to cheer with some of my best friends is so much fun,” Williams said.
This year, the pep rally was highly attended. There were so many students that the stands were overflowing and people were cheering from all sides of the gym.
“It was great to see how many people were able to show up,” Williams said. “I have never seen so many people come and watch a pep rally.”
Caption by Adele Seeboth. Photo by Josie Linton.
ONE LAST BATTLE CRY: Senior Valeria Villafuerte-Perez celebrates with her friends after the senior class won the spirit competition. At each pep rally, a different game is played with volunteers from the crowd. Villafuerte-Perez was nominated by her friends to play a game in which the goal was to snatch a pom-pom from an opponent.
“Before school started, my friends and I had talked about going all out for senior year, so I told them to nominate me for a game since it was our last [Shoal Creek Showdown] pep rally,” Villafuerte-Perez said. “I wasn’t really scared to go down to the floor in front of the whole school, all I was focused on was getting the crowd hyped for the game.”
Villafuerte-Perez entered the game determined to win. After several rounds, as there were just two people left, she managed to snatch the last pom just in time, in order to secure a victory for the senior class.
“I was really happy I won the game for the class of 2026,” Villafuerte-Perez said. “Honestly, I just wanted to win because seniors rule.”
As this was her first pep rally as a senior, the event carried extra meaning to Villafuerte-Perez.
“Being in the stands as a senior feels very surreal,” Villafuerte-Perez said. “I still remember my first pep rally, and now I’m a senior having my last pep rally, I think in that moment it really set in that I’m a senior, and that I’m going to graduate soon.”
Caption by Sophia Manos. Photo by Julia Copas.
TACKLE ATTACK: Senior linebacker Summit Flowers tackles one of Anderson’s running backs in the third quarter of the Shoal Creek Showdown game. According to Flowers, he went into the first game of the season with the hope of playing the best he could and trying not to let anything up on his side. As for the team, Flowers said they didn’t initially feel deterred by Anderson’s reputation and went in with the goal of defeating them.
“We wanted to go in for the first game of the season trying to execute and not make any mistakes,” Flowers said. “We got a stop on the second drive, and everyone was really excited about that, but we couldn’t keep it going. I remember we were just trying to stop their run game, that was the most challenging aspect, and trying to tackle. We made too many mistakes, there were two plays where we couldn’t tackle a guy and they ended up getting a touchdown.”
While Flowers expressed disappointment at the 37-2 loss for the Knights, he said the defeat is motivation for the rest of the season.
“Obviously it doesn’t feel great, we have a lot of hard games this season that we’re trying to prepare for and we’re getting ready,” Flowers said. “It’s good to play a good team like that early in the season so you can realize your mistakes and clean them up before it gets too late in the season.”
Flowers said that his personal goals for the next game– the Battle of the Bell against Travis tonight– align well with Coach Thomas Gammerdinger’s planned plays. According to Flowers, the team doesn’t expect the same level of challenge from Travis that Anderson presented.
“I’m going to work on memorization for the defensive plays and helping my teammates get lined up, know the plays,” Flowers said. “We made some defensive line changes, we’re playing zone defense instead of cover one to cover three. We’re not too worried about Travis, we’re using the next couple of games to prepare for the season.”
Caption by Beatrix Lozach. Photo by Julia Copas.
FIRST RUN ON TURF: Sophomore Shola Houston performs alongside her fellow trombones during the halftime show of the Shoal Creek Showdown game on Thursday, Aug. 29. This performance was only the second time that the band had run through the complete show. The first time was earlier that morning.
“I think it went pretty well considering we had only run through it one time before,” Houston said. “I don’t think our forms were very clear, but that’s to be expected until we have more field rehearsals.”
Going into halftime, Houston was nervous but not as anxious as she was her freshman year.
“I felt a little better than the freshmen who were marching on a field for the first time,” she said.
Reflecting on the performance as a whole, Houston acknowledged that the band did a good job of counting together, moving together and playing with good volume.
“Counting is very important, especially when we’re first learning the show, because it helps everyone know where we are in each set and move together,” Houston said. “Playing with good volume is also important so the music can make an impact and our smaller band can stand out to judges.”
In the coming weeks, to get more practice on the turf fields, the band is going to go to stadiums like Nelson Field during days off from school to practice their drill without the grid.
“I’m looking forward to progress over time and hopefully make it to state,” Houston said.
Caption by Maya Tackett. Photo by Julia Copas.
