
Eagles defeat Crusaders, juniors claim victory
After a week of celebrating the decades past, students, alumni and teachers attended the Friday night celebration of the 32nd homecoming in a history of 40 years at FC. Over the course of the night, many festivities took the field including the presentation of class floats, homecoming nominees, and the football game.
The night began at 6 p.m. as the students gathered on the FC football field. Homecoming nominees were getting their pictures taken and admiring the outfits of their competitors. The shuttles were prepped and polished to soon hold the princess candidates from each class. The red carpet was unrolled and straightened, lighting the way in which the candidates were to walk out.
The four class floats were being pulled up on long trailers and last minute touches were happening to ensure each float looked as perfect as possible. Friendly shouts and acknowledgements came from the students as they admired each class’ float, wondering who would take the win at the end of the night. Would it be the newbie freshman class, full of hope that their design would wow the crowd, or the expert seniors, who know what makes a good float win.
Meanwhile, the varsity football team is gathering in the locker room to prepare for their game against Kings Christian, which starts promptly at 7 p.m. The boys huddle around one another and listened to the last minute advice their coaches offer up. Prayers and words of encouragement are shared in this young brotherhood.
A special commemorative booth was set up selling spirit wear to honor the 40th year of Fresno Christian schools. The line for the booth ran long, as both school alumni and new students wanted to buy a piece of apparel to honor their highschool of both past and present. The night is full of fun and laughter.
After many years of building floats, Katie Jacobson, ‘17, thinks that there was not as much help during the meetings when they were preparing the float.
“I enjoyed this year’s homecoming a lot,” Jacobson said. “The senior float was understaffed which made it difficult to complete but we still managed. Overall it was very fun and I enjoyed it a lot despite the senior float not being very good.”
Although experiencing homecoming as a high schooler, Logan Lewis, ‘20, thought that this year’s homecoming was the biggest and more exciting than previous years.
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“I think this homecoming was phenomenal,” Lewis said. “We have a ton of people in the stands and the floats look amazing. All the kings, queens and princesses looked awesome. There was definitely a lot more people here this year. My favorite part is seeing the school come together by participating in the float building and bonding with my class through that.”
During halftime of the game, the 2016 homecoming court was announced.
Freshman princess: Jordan Mazzela
Sophomore princess: Macie Thompson
Junior princess: Mariana Fikse
Senior princess: Jennifer King
Queen: Hannah Nale
King: Phillip Christopher
For freshmen participating in homecoming is an experience like none other. Jordan Mazzela, ‘20, was the winner of freshmen homecoming princess. She admits that she never thought she would be the won to win. Overall she thought that homecoming week was fun.
“I was pretty shocked that I was chosen to be the freshmen princess,” Mazzela said. “I knew that one of the three of us going to get it, but I never thought it would be me. My favorite theme day of homecoming was turn back time day because I got new bell bottom pants and they were really cute. I never really got involved in homecoming week at my old school, and I feel like it’s just a better experience here.”
From the success of the football team to the creativeness of the floats, Ronnie Peterson, ‘19, believes that this homecoming night was one of the best.
“I thought homecoming was great and I really enjoyed it,” Peterson said. “I thought the floats were really good this year, it was great that Phillip won this year. The floats were better and the football game was awesome.”

As a freshman, Hannah Nale, ‘17, never thought that she would be nominated as homecoming queen. She enjoys interacting with the community and alumni.
“Becoming homecoming queen was so crazy and stunning,” Nale said. “The Lord is so good and I am so blessed to be here at Fresno Christian. As a freshmen I would have never of dreamed of becoming homecoming queen my senior year. Homecoming is amazing because it lets you interact with the community, connect with the underclassmen and getting together with the alumni!”
Immediately following the halftime, the judging of the floats began as the third quarter of the football game started.
1st place: Juniors
2nd place: Sophomores
3rd place: Seniors
4th place: Freshmen
Due to the class’ involvement, Stephen Walters, ‘18, felt that his class was able to build a great float. He thought that a couple of the other classes did not take the time out to build their floats.
“Our float won because of the class involvement and structural design as we put everything together to the best of our ability,” Walters said. “I am happy we were able to despite the unfortunate circumstances we faced as a class. I think the float turned out great. I think the sophomores came in a very close second. I question the structural integrity of both the senior and freshmen float which is why they did not do as well. They did not take the time to build it out.”
Not everyone agreed with the final float placement. Freshmen Blake Deffenbacher believes that his class should have won. Despite the loss Deffenbacher thought every class did a good job.
“I liked our homecoming float,” Deffenbacher said. “I think we won honestly. I thought most of the floats looked really good but ours was definitely the best. Overall though, I think everyone did a really good job.
At the end of the night students bustled around the field to clean up floats and congratulate the winners on their win. The football team ended in a big victory for the Eagles as they defeated Kings Christian, 61-22.
For more information about today’s costume recap read, FC turns back time: Day 5.
Slideshow: Homecoming week concludes with the 32nd annual homecoming night.
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Sharon Scharf • Oct 12, 2016 at 6:52 am
I was so impressed that you had all the coverage on FRIDAY night!!! I was in New York for a wedding and was able to see the results early Saturday a.m. when I woke up California time!!! Congrats again Feather staff for an over-the-top job!!!
Lin Brown • Oct 8, 2016 at 8:23 pm
Enjoyed your thorough coverage of the Homecoming festivities. Such a beautiful and exciting evening! Great job Feather staff!!