Written by Jack Limbaugh
Homecoming 2024 at AHS took place the week of September 16th through the 20th. This year’s theme was Game On, AHS. The week featured a variety of activities and ended with a win at the football game on Friday.
On Monday, a no school teacher in-service day, all four classes came into school to decorate hallways, a yearly tradition. The four classes’ themes were all included under the game theme. Seniors rolled the dice with a board game hallway featuring classic family board games. The juniors’ hallway featured video games from all eras. The sophomore hallway was themed after classic arcade games. And finally, the freshmen had a carnival games themed hallway. The winners of the hallway decorating were the sophomores; they were announced at the pep rally on Friday afternoon. Senior Kaitlyn Burns says, “The hallway decorating competition was rigged.”
Wednesday featured grades competing against each other in powderpuff football and muscle volleyball. Powderpuff took place on the football field and after lots of action, the seniors captured their first powderpuff title after three years of coming in second. Then everyone transitioned to the gym, where muscle volleyball was set to take place. After some heated matchups, the Senior 1 team cruised to a 4th straight title after destroying every single team they faced.
The Homecoming court was made up of a group of seniors from the class of 2025. King nominees included Alex Manske, Jack Limbaugh, Tate Slage, Ace Studer, Chance Studer, and Ryan Weier. Due to a tie, this was the first year that featured six king candidates. The queen nominees included Kaitlyn Burns, Ryan Haynes, Josie Jennings, Andi Jensen, and Lainey Venteicher.
The pep rally was held on Friday afternoon at the football field. It featured a variety of activities and games. Some of the games included Tug of War, Guess the Song, and a Balloon Pop race. The dance team and the band also performed. The winner of king and queen was announced. Jack Limbaugh won king and Kaitlyn Burns won queen. The pep rally was followed by the parade, which everyone was glad to have this year after canceling last year’s due to the weather.
The week wrapped up with the football game against Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. The Bulldogs started out fast, jumping to a 21-0 lead with Alex Manske throwing three touchdown passes, two to Tyson VanDewalle and one to Tate Slagle. The defense played extremely well in the first half, only allowing two 1st downs without penalties. Then, at the end of the 1st half, off of a pass tipped by Will Limbaugh, Evan Allie returned an interception for a touchdown to end the half with the Bulldogs on top 28-0. After a quick touchdown to start the second half, the score was 35-0 and the clock ran. The Dogs pulled the starters and the backups got some great Varsity experience to end the game.
Homecoming 2024 will be remembered as one of the best AHS has had!