It’s not every day that Washington High School’s student section, The Flock, has more than 300 students chanting and cheering for fellow Blue Jays, but then again it’s not every day that the boys soccer team advances to the Final Four State Competition. On Friday, Nov. 10, over 280 students and staff members boarded six busses to the World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. The boys soccer team won 4-3 against Harrisonville during double overtime, advancing to play for first place on Nov. 11, but the soccer team wasn’t the only group turning heads. With hundreds of Blue Jays in the stands, the student section was noticed by both teams on the field.

“The stage we were playing on and how many students came to support was amazing,” senior Conlan Jarvis said. “I normally don’t pay attention to the fans during the game, but today they were so loud I couldn’t block out all the noise.”

The Flock leaders led the crowd in cheering for the soccer team through chants like “B-L-U-E-J-A-Y-S”, “we are The Flock we want to rock” and many more.

“It hyped us all up,” junior Jeremiah Collins said. “The energy from the crowd kept all of us ready to battle until the end and not give up.”

This is the first time in the WHS boys soccer program’s history that they have advanced to the Final Four Competition, so many wanted to make the experience memorable for not only the soccer players but everyone in the student section.

Student section leader senior Cason Suggs instructed the students before the game to be as energetic as possible and wanted them to be “jumping up and down and going as loud as [they] can.”

However, when the Harrisonville Wildcats scored two goals in the first half, making the score 0-2 with five minutes left in the first half, the section’s loudness never faltered. The Flock leaders began banging on the back of a five-gallon bucket as a makeshift drum to complement some chants. After Jarvis scored a goal near the end of the first half, Collins tied the game in the second half, which sent The Flock into a frenzy. But with 15 minutes left in the second half, Harrisonville scored another goal, which left many WHS students worrying and even praying for a win. The Blue Jays looked as if they were going to lose when the scoreboard timer began to read single digits until Collins scored another goal with seven seconds left. During double overtime, Jarvis kicked a game-winning goal for the Blue Jays, which led to the students rushing over to a close field to greet the winners. Suggs describes his feeling of pure joy when the soccer team came running onto the field.

“Most of those guys are my friends, some of them close friends,” Suggs said. “Seeing them get where they were, and accomplish that goal, I had no choice but to be happy for them.”

The incredible amount of students attending the soccer team demonstrates how proud the student body is of the boys soccer team for making history.

“…[They] have been working all season for this moment,” junior Kade Uetz said. “I just try to come out and cheer as much as I can for them because I know how hard it is to work all season for this, and they deserve it.”