I was a senior at Benedictine Military School (BC) in 1979, and the final game of the football season was fast approaching against our historic arch rival, Savannah High School. My father graduated from Savannah High, and I had heard stories about this rivalry since I was a kid.
Our pep rally needed something extra, and I came up with the idea of a coffin painted blue and white, the colors of Savannah High, marched in by pall bearers dressed like the Blues Brothers, while the band played a funeral dirge. My brother was a year behind me, and I recruited him and his buddies to build and paint the coffin. My senior buddies and I were the pall bearers. Not only did we execute my plan at the pep rally, but we also repeated the funeral march on the field before the game.
Welp, things did not go as planned. Even though we were were undefeated and ranked, Savannah High upset us something like 13-7. As time expired, the Savannah High football team headed for that coffin and smashed it to pieces. Total humiliation. My brother and his buddies repeated the coffin act the next year, and Savannah High beat us again. Only this time, my brother and his posse grabbed the coffin. Supposedly, they burned it on the front steps of Savannah High. And that’s where I thought this whole mess ended.
Eventually, I moved away and lost touch with BC. However, I attended my very first high school reunion last fall. I was talking to this young alumni relations feller and proudly telling him my coffin story when he said, “We still do it.” I was stunned and asked, “What?” He went on to explain that the coffin is now a homecoming tradition. Students build the coffin in shop class, and the coffin is burned at the homecoming pep rally.
The BC homecoming festival was held tonight, including the burning of the coffin. And it all started with a teenager just trying to be cool. Go Cadets!
Our pep rally needed something extra, and I came up with the idea of a coffin painted blue and white, the colors of Savannah High, marched in by pall bearers dressed like the Blues Brothers, while the band played a funeral dirge. My brother was a year behind me, and I recruited him and his buddies to build and paint the coffin. My senior buddies and I were the pall bearers. Not only did we execute my plan at the pep rally, but we also repeated the funeral march on the field before the game.
Welp, things did not go as planned. Even though we were were undefeated and ranked, Savannah High upset us something like 13-7. As time expired, the Savannah High football team headed for that coffin and smashed it to pieces. Total humiliation. My brother and his buddies repeated the coffin act the next year, and Savannah High beat us again. Only this time, my brother and his posse grabbed the coffin. Supposedly, they burned it on the front steps of Savannah High. And that’s where I thought this whole mess ended.
Eventually, I moved away and lost touch with BC. However, I attended my very first high school reunion last fall. I was talking to this young alumni relations feller and proudly telling him my coffin story when he said, “We still do it.” I was stunned and asked, “What?” He went on to explain that the coffin is now a homecoming tradition. Students build the coffin in shop class, and the coffin is burned at the homecoming pep rally.
The BC homecoming festival was held tonight, including the burning of the coffin. And it all started with a teenager just trying to be cool. Go Cadets!
