by Abbie Cunningham, FHS junior and Eagle Beat reporter
(Photo by Ana Jamim)
Band competed in the annual UIL marching contest in Midway on Saturday to attempt advancing to the area contest.
“I liked the scores we got today because it reflected and justified the amount of work we did this week,” band director Bill Large said.
“However, I was a little disappointed considering the body of work from earlier this year, but with the work that we did this week, I’m very satisfied.”
The chance to advance to area then state occurs every other year for marching season. This season offered the opportunity to advance if the band scores a 1- 1- 1 for their performance; however, the band scored 1- 2- 2 which did not allow advancement.
“We did a really good job on actually staying in line and hitting the yard line,” senior Jack Ezell said. “There are some things we should have definitely improved on, but overall I think we did pretty good.”
Large taught military marching for decades, and he has worked along with band directors Russell Holland and Gust Witt for years. The band was led by drum majors Ezell, senior Anna Kaye Williams, junior David Thomas, and junior Conner Jackson.
“I was really impressed with the sound of the band, and the look of it was really good,” Witt said. “I did see a lot of individual mistakes which I hope I’m just being super critical, and it didn’t count off for us.”
For the 2018 marching season the band marched through formations of diamonds and diagonals, concluding with their famous starburst ending.
“I think the students seemed nervous; they seemed unsure of themselves in certain parts,” Large said. “Other parts they marched like a million bucks, but you could see something was not exactly right.”
