This column is the sole opinion of the author. It does not necessarily represent the opinions of the RedEye staff, duPont Manual High School, its students, faculty or administration.

October 22, 2011, was the day Manual conquered Male in football once again. But in the activities off the field, in the student section and at tailgating parties in the parking lot, Manual conquered Male in school spirit as well.

Joseph Plymale (11), Corbin Mosser (11), Parker Bowling (12) and Camron Kriz (12) created a Facebook group the week before the game inviting all of Manual to come and tailgate hours before the great rivalry. Many students commented on the group and delegated tasks such as who should bring the plates, cups, and other utensils. 

On the day of the game, my friends and I arrived at 12:00 p.m., and even though the kickoff wasn’t until 4:00 p.m., we were considered “late tailgaters.” We scavenged through the bags of treats and dodged the flying beanbags from the cornhole competitors. When we reached all our friends who were talking and dancing to the music blaring from Sean Sullivan’s (12) car, we immediately put in orders for hotdogs to Josh Bynum (12), the so-called “Grill Master,” and grabbed handfuls of cream-filled cookies. We waded through the crowds of Manual students and greeted all our friends wearing Manual’s symbolic red “M.”

The boys painted up, and we all shouted our Manual cheers before we even walked through the stadium. We took tons of pictures, posing with silly faces and making true “Kodak moments.” It was rumored that the majority of Male students didn’t arrive to the stadium until 3:30 p.m., after Manual students had already been there for hours.

With fifteen minutes left ’til the game started, Manual’s tailgaters gathered up the food and locked their cars. It was time for our school spirit to carry over to victory!

Morgan Loy contributed to this article.