Mason Eastman

The football team stands during the playing of the national anthem at Ladue Horton Watkins High School Sept. 9. The team ultimately beat the Lindbergh Flyers 17-7. “The touchdown on the 10 yard line, when Beau threw it, [was my favorite moment of the night],” Bailey said.

Due to an unexpected relocation of the student section, Ladue football fans cheered their team to a win over the Lindbergh Flyers from a new spot in the stands Sept. 1.  

Ladue’s student section has switched sides for the first time since the reconstruction of the stadium back in 2019. Instead of the tried and true left side of the field, students are now rooting on the Rams from the right. 

“I’m honestly not a fan,” senior blue crew leader Tori Thomas said. “I think everyone has been so used to being on that side, and to make a change like that and keep everyone on the same page is hard.”

The change, however, didn’t seem to catch the attention of everyone, specifically those on the field. The football team’s 2-0 winning streak proves that their sole focus was on defeating the Flyers.

“I didn’t even notice, to be honest,” sophomore football player Bryan Bailey said. “I thought we were still on the other side.” 

While there is division among personal opinions on the switch, the question that seems to surface time and time again is why the change occurred. According to Thomas, multiple factors sparked the changes.

“Reason number one is because we wanted our own entrance gates to walk through,” Thomas said. “We’ve had a lot of issues in the past years with the other teams’ students walking by ours, so we wanted to separate those. Another good reason is it gets [Ladue students] out of the sun faster.”

The football team worked together all night long, ultimately leading to their success over Lindbergh. Many members of the team are quick to credit their success on the field to the team’s mature chemistry.

“We have a four year veteran quarterback,” Bailey said. “We are all friends and good people.”