Photo by Abby Thomas
At Belmont University’s Homecoming this year, current students and alumni met on the main lawn to face off in the school’s inaugural Homecoming flag football game.
In an interception-filled game, the alumni and seniors teamed up to take on the freshman, sophomores and juniors.
The alumni and seniors won 28-20 after dominating the first half, going into halftime up 20-6.
The students made a push in the second half and began to catch up, throwing hail Mary passes for touchdowns.
However, time was against them with the game ending before they could tie it up.
The university’s beloved mascot Bruiser even got his time to shine on the field for two plays on the alumni and seniors’ team.
The reason a game like this is so notable is because Belmont has never had a football team.
It served as the first time Belmont dipped its toes into the college football pond.
Even without an official football team on campus, the love for football is present.
Photo by Abby Thomas
Senior Kingston Gardner, who played on the winning team in this years’ game, has been playing football on the lawn with his friends for years.
“Almost every week, we would do flag football Fridays. And we would just get a bunch of friends, make a huge group chat and just show up and play,” Gardner said. “We always wanted to make it a little more formal, and we just never did.”
Gardner is not alone in his desire for a more formal team or intramural league of some kind on campus.
His friend, senior Lukus Perry, shares his passion.
“I've been begging in every way that I can for Belmont to have something flag football related,” Perry said. “To hear that there was an alumni versus student flag football game, I was like ‘they're finally doing it.’”
Perry went on to talk about how the lack of a football team has affected Belmont.
“That’s the one thing Belmont’s missing. There’s such a drive in the student body I've seen, wanting some type of football,” Perry said.
College football is rooted in college and university culture, and for some, it feels like Belmont has been missing out.
“We’re missing out on camaraderie that we could have on a Saturday during the fall,” Perry said.
Sophomore JD Rice, who played on the students’ team, agreed with Perry.
“Having a football team is huge for college culture, and Belmont not having a football team kind of diminishes it a little bit,” Rice said.
On the bright side, there’s hope that this year is only the start to a long-lasting tradition.
“Maybe it's something that Belmont will incorporate and could have like some kind of fun league, maybe even intramurals,” Rice said. “It could be a yearly tradition.”
Students’ love for the sport is what makes this game extra special.
“We're all just becoming kids again, just playing football. There’s something special about it,” Perry said.
Like many, Gardner has loved football since he was a kid, and this game feels “like a throwback” he said.
While Gardner reminisced on the past, Perry looked to the future.
“We're doing this because we're building dad-lore,” Perry said. “This is what we're going to tell our kids about one day.”
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This article was written by Abby Thomas
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