Homecoming Weekend 2024

By Carter Kennon

Homecoming Weekend 2024 at Defiance College involved many events, but the most anticipated one happened to be the football game, where the Yellow Jackets took on the Manchester Spartans. At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 5, the game began, but before that, alumni and students gathered together for a tailgate. The alumni, who were in town for Homecoming, provided food and drinks for everyone at George Smart Center. The road surrounding the campus was closed for the event.

The game was the most packed this reporter has ever seen from a Defiance College home game, and it was an exciting mixture of students and alumni who came back to support the Yellow Jackets. The first half of the game was interesting, and by the time halftime happened, DC was in the lead. Throughout the game whenever timeouts or quarters ended, the cheerleaders threw shirts, or mini footballs to win free pizza. Excited, fans jumped up and down just for a free pizza. Everyone at the game was having fun, and enjoying the game and all of the fun activities that happened throughout the game. It was definitely an atmosphere you would want to experience as a player and a spectator.

In addition to the game, Hall of Fame inductions occurred during halftime. At the ceremony, they honored six former Yellow Jackets: Terernce Seikel, Kirk Seemann, Fran Wahrman, Anthony Pettaway, Emili King, and Craig Rutter. This ceremony was super cool as we got to see people who used to play sports at our school and who accomplished amazing achievements get recognized and inducted into our Hall of Fame at Defiance. The ceremony at halftime further invigorated the Yellow Jackets and the atmosphere surrounding the game was electric. Students and alumni alike all cheered for their Yellow Jackets, who brought home a 35- 3 win against Manchester, capping off an amazing Homecoming weekend.