The football team is well into its pre-game ritual, the band has made its way into the stands, the senior gators have full stomachs from the tailgate dinner, and the campus is flooded with a sea of Lancer blue.

The varsity field is the epicenter of excitement on a quiet Friday night in Londonderry.

This occurrence is not unique. There are likely hundreds of thousands of other football games happening on any given Friday night in the fall. It’s a cliche that is the premise of at least one episode of every high school based TV show ever. But what makes this game unique is that it’s in our town.

It’s our classmates on the field, its our friends standing beside us in the stands, its the red, white, and blue of our Lancer Nation.

These nights are for us. Whether we are suited up in pads and helmets, adorning shakos and neck straps, or wearing ‘leave no doubt’ shirts.

Our team may lose, the weather may be rainy, and the concession stand may have run out of nachos in only the second quarter, but that won’t stop us.

These are the nights that will stick with us forever. Regardless of the conditions, we will be out there living the in the moment, enjoying our fleeting teenage years.

But humor me for a second. Think back to a single football game last year. Can you picture who you went to the game with? Where you and your friends circled up and chatted all night long? You could probably even tell me what you were wearing that night. But tell me this: what was the final score in the game? Who did we even play?

Although you paid admittance into a football game, odds are you were not there simply to catch a ball game. That’s because ‘Friday night lights’ are so much more than just a game.

Besides pep-rallies, sporting events are one of the only other times the majority of the student body comes together and simply enjoys one another’s presence.

Now, here we are. We’ve reached November and the end of the fall sports regular season. Granted, soon winter sports will start up and we will all be cramming together on bleachers in the gym to cheer on our defending state champion boys and girls basketball teams (shout out to those guys!).

But now we have reached the beginnings of the lasts.

The first games of the season in early September we wore tshirts and shorts, now we are bundling up in hats and scarves (buy yours from the boys soccer and lacrosse teams… shameless plug).

The first quarter of the school year is ending and we are now deep into the stress of the school year, no more honeymoon stage that comes in the first weeks of school when we are all settling into our upgraded positions in the high school hierarchy.

Senior nights have come and gone, some kids have realized that the last time they stepped onto the field could possibly be their final game in an organized sport ever. They are honored at senior nights, commending their years of determination and commitment to the game.

Senior gators grasp the fact that the only way they will get to tailgate another game is if they choose a college with sports.

The band kids march onto the field for their last halftime show. They hear the seniors’ names rattled off in a cadence, finally receiving their moment of recognition which they had been longing for since band camp of freshman year.

The juniors know that the next time they come to a game under the lights, they will have reached the top rung of the social ladder; standing in the senior section which seemed like forbidden land for the past three years.

So here’s hoping you made the most of the season, supporting your classmates, making memories with friends, and making Lancer Nation proud.

And if you didn’t live this season to the fullest, take this as a wake up call to go out and enjoy your remaining time as a Lancer.

The following pictures are from the football

game on Friday, Oct 30.