As is with every year, the week of homecoming is one filled with tremendous celebration and festivities. Events such as the Pep assembly, dance and spirit week, ensure that everyone has something to enjoy or look forward to. However, none come close to the hype and excitement of the Homecoming Game. 

At this year’s homecoming game, Renton was set to go against the Cedarcrest Red Wolves, a school located in Duvall, which is over an hour drive from Renton. Though the two teams aren’t rivals nor was it a playoff game, the same kind of pressure still seemed to loom over the players. “I was feeling nervous,” said linebacker, Kirk Galang, “I knew there was a really large crowd and I knew the impact on the game for the student section and for the school in general.”

The game started off relatively uneventful with both teams unable to convert on their first drives. However, after punting the ball to Cedarcrest on their second drive, Renton would soon find themselves in a tough spot after giving up a 9-yard passing touchdown to the Red Wolves towards the end of the first quarter. 

The second quarter saw Cedarcrest start to dominate, with a fumble recovery for a touchdown to start things off. After Renton punted the ball on their following drive, the Red Wolves would again find the endzone after a 5-yard passing touchdown which put them up 21-0. Cedarcrest’s defense continued to put pressure on the Indians as they would force and recover a fumble from the Indians to convert into another passing touchdown for 33 yards. As the first half came to a close, the Indians would find themselves down 28-0. 

During halftime, there were a number of performances to keep the crowd entertained as the players took a break. First off, was a performance by RHS’s Kpop Club. Their performance consisted of several choreographed dances in synch with certain Kpop songs. Though they were performing in front of hundreds of people, that didn’t seem to stop them from performing smoothly. Members like Eunice Lopez and Mercedes Saetrn, commented on how many artists like BTS perform for 50k people and how that seemed to help keep them focused before their own performance.

Soon after, the crowd would be introduced to RHS’s homecoming court which included freshmen Emmy Do and Elijah Sauls, sophomores Malina Taing and Joshua Roxas, and juniors Rahjia Evans Crockett and Curtis Shaw. The senior princesses included Jacquelin Abrego, Katelynn Apolonio, Alicia Ing and Mehr Mehta. The princes were Seyum Belete, Ronzell Danao, Jamal Jamerson and Jeric Liam. Finally, the crowd was given the chance to meet both the king and queen respectively; Adonis Clemente and Faith Richardson. The halftime festivities would eventually end off with a performance by the RHS cheer squad who would also continue to cheer the team on throughout the whole game. 

The third quarter could only be described by one word—turnovers. Renton managed to intercept Cedarcrest on their opening drive of the half. Later on, they would also recover a Cedarcrest fumble. However, things would eventually be in Cedarcrest’s favor, with the Red Wolves recovering one of the Indian’s fumbles. 

The 4th quarter wouldn’t see much action aside from a fantastic defensive play by the Indians. As Cedarcrest was within 10 yards of another touchdown, an intercepted pass right outside the end zone would lead to a 100-yard return for a touchdown by safety Elijah McClain. This caused the crowd to roar in celebration, as Renton finally got on the board making the score 28-7. That would end up being the final score.  

Though the game ended in Renton being defeated and Cedarcrest ultimately being victorious, it didn’t seem to change the crowd’s perception of whether the game was worth coming to. Sophomore Antonio Delgado who was on his feet and cheering all night, had this to say about the game during halftime. “The crowd being ecstatic has really boosted the morale and feeling of the game. Even though we are losing I feel like I won by coming. GO RENTON!”