by Eli Badower, Sports Editor

The pepfest is as much a part of homecoming as the football game itself.  One of the largest aspects of the pepfest is the dance with both the football and dance teams.

25 football players are paired up with the 25 members of the dance team that attend the high school to perform a dance choreographed by the seniors on the dance team.  While the dancers try to help the football players feel comfortable, the football players are still out of their element.

“When the guys do their solo section, it’s really funny just because they don’t have the dance experience so watching them learn the moves and try to pull them off is pretty great,” said Sedona Timm, senior.

While this may be entertaining for the dancers, it can be nerve wracking for the football players.  Matt Parker, senior, performed last year at the pepfest and felt some pre-dance jitters.

“It was scary.  I thought people were going to laugh at me last year, but then I realized that the whole idea was for people to laugh at me so I just went out there and had a good time,” Parker said.

The experience is not only fun for the football players, but also the dancers.

“It is definitely one of the more fun things we do.  Competitions are fun, but it’s always a fun experience to do the boy girl dance,” said Sydney Rosenzweig, senior.

“I love it.  The boy girl dance is under dancing at state for me, but it’s even above conference meets.  It’s always a lot of fun,” Timm said.

While seeming simple and fun on the surface, a lot of work goes into planning the dance.  The teams meet up for four, two-hour practices leading up to the pepfest.  In addition, the seniors on the dance team are responsible for choreographing the dance, while the captains make the pairings.

“It’s usually based off of age.  If you’re a sophomore you’re in the back line, and juniors and seniors are in the front two lines.  Normally we try to put partners together based on age, and we try to take suggestions but sometimes it doesn’t work out,” Timm said.

The dance has also created a good-natured competition between the football players over who is the best dancer.  The consensus among the football players is that they are each the best dancer, but Zy Mosley, junior, is the second best.

“By far I’m the best dancer on the team.  Zy’s good but he’s the second best dancer on the team,” said Harry Momoh, junior.

Regardless of who is really the best dancer, the football players were excited to dance in front of the homecoming crowd.

“I’m looking forward to shaking my booty, showing off my moves, and showing to the entire school what I can do,” Momoh said.