Sophomores Tsega Seleshi and Marin Henry prepare for Academy’s first football game of the season. (Kayla Podgurski’19)

Academy’s football team kicked off the school year with a 51-6 win over Linden-McKinley High School on Friday, August 31. Preceding the game was the highly anticipated First Friday tailgate on the quad, with students decked out in white clothes and various colors of paint. 

The event started at 5 p.m. with lawn games all over the quad, including corn hole and spike-ball. There was a table where students could cover themselves in colorful paint or make signs. Students could also grab a “walking taco,” to enjoy. 

The Spirit Squad and senior Vikings Mira Bhasin and Malcolm Klingbeil led the student body with a couple cheers, making sure everyone was filled with strong energy and school spirit before they all rushed down to the stadium in a sea of white, yelling and cheering the entire time.

Students lined up on either side of the trail leading down to field, holding up signs and shouting encouragement toward the players as they headed towards the stadium. Once the game had begun, the student section was filled with the white-clad high-schoolers jumping and shouting support towards the team. Mira, Malcolm, and the spirit squad kept the students cheering the whole time, making sure everyone was on their feet and excited about the game. 

The tailgate, the student section and the entire night was a successful kickoff for Academy’s first home game of the season. Add to this our Vikes’ triumph with a 51-6 win over Linden, and the evening couldn’t have been better.