Fans show passion for Huntingdon-Faulkner game

By Wesley Lyle
wlyle@gannett.com


 

Faulkner seniors Kyle Ferguson and Adam Greene were hard to miss before Saturday's football game with Huntingdon.

With painted faces and hair and wearing blue-plaid kilts, the two Eagles fans embodied the student spirit of the day.

"We've been here for 13 hours already," Ferguson said just before the 1 p.m. kickoff. "This is one of the biggest days for sports in Montgomery."

The two swelled a Huntingdon-record crowd at Samford Stadium, where 3,723 fans witnessed Huntingdon's 30-12 win in the first football game between the two city colleges.

Greene, Ferguson and friend Stephen Watson arrived at midnight. Between a dozen and 15 more devoted followers showed up around 2 a.m.

"We set up our grill and planned to sleep here," Greene said. "There wasn't much sleeping, though. The lot started filling up early."

Ferguson and Greene said they had been planning their all-night vigil for a while. Making a Faulkner flag was part of the plan. So was arriving at the stadium at the stroke of midnight. The body paint was a revamped idea from earlier in the season -- and stolen from a film starring Mel Gibson.

"We chose a 'Braveheart' theme that we had used for the first home game," Ferguson said of the Sept. 15 game against Webber International at Cramton Bowl. "The first time, we painted everything (from the waist up). This time, we decided to save a little time. We painted our arms and faces but we decided to just go with the (skintight) navy shirts."

Greene, who said he had been looking forward to this game "more than homecoming" was hoping for the chance to "go crazy" Saturday. But as the Hawks controlled the game, he didn't get many chances.

Early enthusiasm gave way to subdued acceptance as Huntingdon, a Methodist school, methodically built a 27-0 lead at the half. The Hawks led 31-0 midway through the third quarter.

Ferguson finally got to wave his homemade flag late in the game. Leaning against the fence on the Fairview Avenue end of the field, Ferguson let fly when the Eagles scored their first touchdown with 4:29 left.