For local high school football fans, tonight might as well be the Super Bowl.

This evening at Thirlby Field, the Traverse City Central Trojans and the West Senior High Titans will clash in the 11th annual TC Patriot Game. The crosstown rivalry game is always one of the region's most highly-anticipated events, with the 2022 game carrying extra significance: Since the schools split in 1997, the Trojan and Titan football squads have faced each other 27 times, with wins split 13-14 in favor of West. Tonight’s game gives the Trojans a chance to tie the rivalry up for the first time ever. More than just the action on the field, though, the game promises to be a lively showcase of another hallowed form of school spirit: the student cheering section.

High school student sections have existed for as long as there have been high school athletics, but for TC Central Assistant Principal Ben Berger, it’s clear that younger generations have raised the bar significantly. Berger is a TC Central alumnus (he graduated in 2005) as well as a former governor of the school’s student senate. Today, one of the key responsibilities of the governor role is leading the student section at football games and other athletic events. Back in the mid-2000s, though, things looked a little different.

“When I graduated, that was just on the front end of students sections being really popular,” Berger says. “I remember going to games as a sophomore, and at that point, the games were really just something you went to, and you sat, and you talked to the people around you.”

Berger matriculated from Central to Michigan State University (MSU), where he says he became “a die-hard member of the ‘Izzone,’” the name for the official student section at MSU basketball games. “That’s when I started to see what a student section could be like,” he says.

Before long, high school student sections were taking cues from collegiate athletics. Berger, who stayed in touch with his old high school through two younger siblings who also graduated from Central, saw the shift happening from afar. “I remember student senate trying to create that blueprint and bring some of that [college student section energy] to high school,” Berger tells The Ticker. “Everyone realized this could be a fun activity for students to engage in directly, instead of just talking to each other in the stands and having the game be secondary.”

The game certainly isn’t secondary anymore. Just ask Ian Robertson, a senior at TC West who, as student senate governor, is responsible for overseeing the Titan student section for the 2022-23 school year. Being a part of West’s student section, Robertson stresses, is not a passive activity. Instead, these days, cheering on a Titan football game is practically a competitive sport in and of itself. Last school year, West’s student section – dubbed “the Bleacher Creatures” – won “Battle of the Fans,” a contest held by the Michigan High School Athletic Association Student Advisory Council. Each year, Battle of the Fans seeks to crown the top high school cheering section in the state. 2022 marked the second victory for the Bleacher Creatures, which also clinched the top prize in 2016.

What elevates a student section to championship-worthy status? According to Robertson, there’s almost an alchemy to it – one that involves combining familiar traditions with new ideas, and one that demands an ever-evolving definition of what a student section can be.

First, there’s the obvious stuff: the themes, the costumes, the chants, the songs, the props. That’s where the mix of old traditions and new ideas comes into play. “In the student senate class, usually at the beginning of every month, we take a look at all the events that are going on,” Robertson says. “For sporting events, we pick a theme, vote on it as a class, and then we put the theme out there and we PR it [to the student body].”

Those themes inform what the student section looks like on any given night. The Patriot Game, for instance, traditionally carries a USA theme, with supporters of the “home” team (Central, this year) donning red and the “away” fans wearing blue. Another TC West tradition is “Shrub Night,” where the Bleacher Creatures dress up like plants and trees. But while themes are often repeated annually, student senate is also always trying out new ideas. “At the soccer game against Central last month, it was a player’s birthday, so we did ‘Birthday Party’ as the theme,” Robertson mentions. “We had people that dressed up like presents and brought cakes, or they had streamers and pointy party hats.”

Therein lies another evolution: It’s not just about football. While Robertson acknowledges that the Bleacher Creatures were born as a cheering section for big, popular team sports like football, basketball, soccer, and volleyball, he also says the concept has grown into something more universal over the years. “We want to make sure that all the sports are getting equal attention and equal acknowledgment,” he says, noting that everything from ski races to wrestling meets will typically have a Bleacher Creature contingent. “And moving forward, we’re even trying to get student sections at non-sporting events, too, like band events, or choir concerts, or the musical. We want it to be more inclusive.”

There’s no doubt that West’s student sections today include more students than ever before. Last February, in the midst of Battle of the Fans, the Bleacher Creatures were 550 students strong for a basketball game against Ludington. “We had people show up at that game that had never been to a high school sporting event before, and they loved it,” Robertson says. “Now, they’re participating a bunch more this year, which is cool to see.”

And while school spirit competitions can certainly help increase turnout, that might not be the only factor at play. At Central, for instance, Berger says he’s observed an uptick in students looking for a “unifying event” or “common rooted cause,” especially since COVID-19 temporarily took away things like sporting events and student sections. “Kids definitely see it as a social opportunity that they didn’t know they took for granted until it was gone,” he says.

All the support from classmates also makes a big difference for the athletes or participants. Ryan Royston who played football at Central and graduated in 2021, says he’s only come to realize how much the student section meant to him now that he’s back in town, student-teaching at Central and also helping out on the football coaching staff.

“My last year playing football was a COVID year, so we didn’t have the liberty of the student section,” Royston says. “For most of that season, there were only 250 people allowed in the stands for the entire game. Now, being on the sidelines as a coach, I’m seeing that I never really realized how much the student section and the band affects the game. It amps up the players, it controls momentum. You hear all those screaming kids and all the chants and whatnot, and it’s surreal. It is a very big part of a high school football game.”

Pictured: The "Bucket Brigade," a key part of the West Senior High Bleacher Creatures.