Pon poms, navy jerseys, the ROTC’s lunch time flag running and fans dressed in blue, white and silver crowding the stadium will be missed this week.

The fourth week of this school year has no football game because of a bye week.  Bye weeks are rare opportunities that allow athletes a break to not only work on their plays, but also the mental parts of the game.

“The practices are less physical so we can focus on tactical and mental aspects of the game,” Quarterback Garrett McCain said, “We have more time to prepare mentally and focus on the upcoming opponents.”

Athletes use this week as bonding time with their fellow players even outside of practice.

“Some of us went and got breakfast together the other morning,” McCain said.

This week isn’t a time to slack off though.  There’s always something to work on for the next big game even for the drill team.

“Practices are just a little more relaxed because there’s no field practice but we still have to work on the pep rally Monday so not very much changes,” Sapphire Brooke Mainord said. “We usually just prepare for the weeks ahead and go ahead and get things out of the way. We don’t take any more breaks.”

The performances taking place next week at the stadium take a great deal of time to learn and perfect before being shown off in front of the whole school.

“It’s so nice having bye week,” Cheerleader Caitlin Gipson said. “There’s just more time to prepare for the exciting homecoming game.”

As for some of the players, they’ll still be experiencing the game under those Friday night lights.

“This Friday night, I’m going to the Rockwall Heath game,” McCain said.