Dover / Phila week for Dover means dress up days, pep rallies, the bonfire, and of course the big Friday night game. During the week, many students dressed up in Barbie vs Oppenheimer, Beach vs Bikers, PJ Day, Tumbleweeds and Tornadoes, and on the big day, everyone dressed up in all white clothes to blind Phila. Many fans were in the stands that night both in the hyped-up student section and in the big stands that overlooked the field. Mrs. Bartholomew had this to say about the spirit and the rivalry, “ Well, I don’t know that I have a huge opinion one way or another because I didn’t grow up here in Dover. But I definitely hope Dover wins, and I think it’s always exciting to see how the school comes together to celebrate our teams and show school spirit this week.” Even though no one put points on the board in the first half, everyone still had hope for Dover.
The second quarter was filled with cheers and excitement, but when JJ Barton scored the first touchdown of the night, everyone erupted with cheer. Tuesday was Tumbleweeds and Tornadoes, and everyone dressed up in their best country or red, white and gray attire. Mr. McKee said this, “I think the Junior class had the most school spirit. Now Dover has more spirit than Phila. When I walked through the batcave, (Cafeteria ) I realized how much we are going to beat Phila. I think the score will be 63-2.” Even though Mr. McKee’s score was more than likely never going to happen, he still thought Dover would become victorious this year.
The third quarter wasn’t the most eventful but still had two touchdowns from Dover and still held Phila back to one touchdown. By then, it was 20 – 7, and Phila was putting up a fight. Mrs. Burgstaller said this before the game, “I think it’s so much better than last year. I think everybody’s having a lot of fun. The teachers are getting involved and the kids are getting involved, so it’s a way bigger improvement from last year. Dover is obviously going to win and I’m going to guess 21-0.” Mrs Lindon also pronounced, “ I think the school spirit is a lot better than last year. I graduated from Dover, so it’s really cool to see everyone get involved. I think Dover will win with a score of 32-14.” When I asked them these questions, they both seemed really happy that most of the students were participating in the dress up days and how the teachers were getting more involved and interacting with the students.
The fourth quarter had the most suspense. The dress up day was white out, so we could blind Phila. Phila had the ball and it was 4th down. We were all waiting for Dover to regain possession of the ball by a turnover on downs, but Phila ended up running it straight to the endzone to make the score 20 – 13. With five minutes left to go, Phila kicked the ball off to Dover but unfortunately got tackled. By the end of the game with close to ten seconds left, the referees call the game making Dover victorious. The school spirit, band and the coaching staff all help the players win the biggest game of the year. We will have to wait to see what happens next year with our current seniors leaving and bringing new ones down to the gate, but for now the Crimson Tornadoes are on top.
