The boys Varsity football team has been noticing a decrease in student attendance in their playoff games on Friday nights at Taraska Stadium. The exact cause of this attendance drop-off is not evident, but many students have their suspicions.

When asked, Junior Nick Schultz says, “My least favorite thing about play-offs is that we can not use our Activity Passes to get in for free. $4.00 a game really adds up.”

This decrease is also directly correlated with the large group of senior students who no longer attend the games. After being thrown out in the Pink Out game, a substantial amount of senior gators were thrown out of the game for blocking the exit of bleachers nearest South Campus.

“The games haven’t been the same since the gators got kicked out. There is a different atmosphere. Everybody is afraid of getting a ticket,” says Junior Greta Truttschel.

The mistrust of the police department has prompted the school to place a video camera into the student section in order to monitor the student’s behaviors.

“This is an outrage. I go to the games to have fun with my friends, not to be watched and scrutinized for everything I do,” says Junior Callie Pilgrim.

Some may argue that the weather is the deciding factor of how many are in the student section.

“I haven’t been going to the games because it has just been too cold. Also, the wind has been really strong making it difficult to endure the entire game,” says Senior Julia Winkel.

Cupped with the weather, students such as Junior Logan Morrison would rather be doing other things on a Friday night instead of standing for two hours in the cold.

“I usually hang out with friends on Friday nights. It is way more appealing than being at the stadium,” says Morrison.

No matter the cause, it is highly evident that the student body is not coming to the games.

The football team is noticing the difference in the stands.

Junior Will Boelter says, “I really hope more people make it out to the play off games. It gives the team more confidence and it is more fun to play when you have someone cheering you on. “