Heart Felt Homecoming 2019

Tonight’s homecoming festivities ended a week of chaotic and exciting fun for Hughson High School students. The 2019 homecoming week captivated students with events ranging from sporting events, to float building, to night rallies, and the culminating event for many – the crowning of homecoming royalty.

This year’s varsity homecoming queen crowned was junior Aolanie Rivera and the JV princess crowned was freshman Ashtin Brazil. Both girls looked stunning as they took to the field at half-time of the varsity game to await the announcement. The crowd waited with anticipation for homecoming commissioners senior Rylie Aguiar and junior Joelle Dowdy to read the winning JV princess Ashtin Brazil.

“I was really surprised too because I didn’t think I would win as a freshman,” said winner Ashtin Brazil.

After the announcement of the JV princess, Aolanie Rivera was announced as the 2019 Homecoming Queen.

“It was really surprising. I didn’t expect it,” said Rivera. “I am really excited. I am kind of shaky right now, but I am really happy. I didn’t expect it. I am really excited.”

The homecoming royalty announcement also shared the spotlight tonight with Senior Night, a night dedicated to honoring 12th-grade players for their dedication to the sport and to honor them for what will typically be the last home game they ever play at Hughson High. It is a night filled with emotion for the players as they take that last walk on to the field, an emotional night for the parents who are saying goodbye as well to a sport they have watched their child grow to love, and emotional for the community who will say good-bye to players they have watched grow, for many, since they were in pop-warner.

“It is a culmination of years of support and watching him grow as an athlete and as a young man.  He has made of very proud,” stated Joe Hahn, father of senior Connor Hahn who was one of the seniors honored tonight.

Throughout the homecoming week, students also worked on building class floats that aligned with their chosen theme. For seniors, the theme was the film “Toy Story;” juniors were “Wreck-It Ralph;” sophomores were “UP;” and Freshmen were the “Incredibles.” On Thursday, October 24, each class was still hard at work trying to construct the winning float.

“I am out here helping because it is our last year of high school and its cool to see the involvement and time everyone else is putting in and obviously we have to win because we’re seniors. We lost the volleyball – buff ball game so we have to win now,” stated senior Brian Hill who was at the senior float on Thursday trying to help secure a win.

Although throughout the week all students gave their best to secure a win for their respective class, the final rankings of the homecoming floats were as follows: fourth place – juniors, third place – freshman, second place – sophomores, and in first place – seniors.

As mentioned by Hill, the buff ball game – a game of volleyball for men – was another crowd-pleaser for the community of Hughson. In that game, juniors beat the seniors 25-19 and 25-14 causing an upset in what many thought would be a game easily taken by the seniors.

“Well, I thought it was a fun event that every senior and junior should participate in, even if you do lose because you get to play with your friends,” senior Aiden Castro.

The powder puff football game which pitted the junior girls against the senior girls in an exciting matchup was also a highlight of the homecoming week. That game was won by the seniors in a stunning victory of 20-0.

“It was amazing! The group of senior girls that we had were so willing to work together. We pulled off 8:30 PM practices and we all sacrificed sleep and homework to make sure we got the win Friday night,” said senior Jaden Brazil. “I will forever remember that night. I’m thankful for my teammates being so willing to put the work in.”

Overall, this homecoming was one to remember. It once again united a community, reminded residents and students alike as to why Hughson is called home, and why home is where the heart is.