Although they lost, the Young Money Republicans had fun competing with and against their friends on the Chupacabras.

It was two months in the waiting but the day had finally arrived. The day twelve people had been looking forward to for what seemed to be an eternity.

This day, January 28, was the date of the dodgeball championship. The game was played in front of the entire student body at the pep assembly, but the real story of the game was what happened leading up to it.

The two teams, the Chupacabras and the Young Money Republicans, were entirely made up of senior boys. The Chupacabras consisting of seniors Preston Felgate, Dan Prem, Trevor Stevens, Jeff Fetzer, Matt Smith and Jason Crow, came in as the favorites.

The Republicans were looking for an upset they knew they needed to maximize strategy if they were going to beat the very talented Chupacabras. Young Money’s roster was filled with players like seniors J.J. Higgins, Michael Higgins, Chris Brown, Travis Thomsen, Patrick Connell, and Nick Dorau.

The original tournament started in the fall right before winter tryouts, and around 25 to 30 teams participated. Ten teams advanced to the playoffs, on one side there was the Chupacabras, on the other was the Young Money Republicans. Both teams’ eyes were on the championship and the Pep Assembly.

Once the final two teams have trekked through the battles of every game and made it to the finals there is a big gap in between the last day of the tournament and the championship during the pep assembly.

Through out the two-month gap classes, the halls, and hangouts were always found with friendly trash talk and lots of hype had built up for this legendary game we call dodgeball.

The night before the big day both teams met at Pizza Maker for their team dinners, each team’s last chance to be together and bond before the event. They sat across the restaurant from each other and lots of stare downs and food throwing took place during the meal. Intimidation would play a factor the next morning once that whistle blew.

The next morning the pep assembly started and nerves were getting to the players. Then it was time for introductions, each team getting themselves pumped up for what would be a memorable game. Then the game started and unlike previous years the game was all action. Balls were thrown immediately, but given the nature of the game, the game finished quickly. After some great catches and some great throws, the favorites were crowned champions. The Chupacabras were the champions accompanied on the court by a lot of eager fans.

The Chupacabras now look forward to the district championship but the Young Money Republicans can only look back at some great memories.

At the end of the day the tournament and championship was a great experience for both teams ending in an exciting and climatic finale.