If there had to be one word to describe the Dowling Catholic student section on the Tuesday night game vs crosstown rival Valley, it would be electric. This huge game to get to Wells Fargo Arena was played Tuesday night at Dallas Center-Grimes High School. One game was to decide who could crown themselves the ultimate victor in sports between these two schools. The stakes were high. 

When there were about 17 minutes left for warmups, the whole Valley student section was filled from top to bottom, while the Dowling students merely had a couple of rows of seniors and some freshmen sitting in the top rows. 

“They had a huge student section compared to our 1 row at the beginning; I was getting nervous but our people came through,” Jake Calvert (12) said.

Then, the students started filling in at chunks at a time. Groups of 5 to 6 people started getting in the gym, eagerly looking for available standing rooms. By the time tip-off started, we had a solid student section going. 

Finally, the game started, and it was intense from start to end. All you could hear were the cheering of fans and an eruption of noise after a great play. The cheers varied from “We can’t hear you,” to “Who’s your daddy,” and everything in between. It was very hostile for both teams. 

It was a game of one-upmanship as each student section tried to get back at each other through taunts and cheers. It was like this the whole game. But once the Maroons started pulling away, the Dowling Students went crazy. After a 9-0 run, the Maroons put us up 14, and it was beautiful to see the students jumping up and down with excitement. 

And once the final buzzer sounded, the students poured on the court to celebrate with the team; it was a mosh pit of excitement and just pure happiness as we knew we found our way to a game in the Well. This game was our first student section of the year, but it won’t be last. Go Maroons.