“Here we go, Raiders, here we go!”

Those and other cheers are heard by the Shawnee Mission South football team as they prepare to run out onto the field each game. The chants come from the SMS student section, usually led by a member of Crowd Control, a group of upperclassmen that organizes cheering at the games. 

Once they start running out onto the field, the cheers get louder, becoming deafening in support of the team. 

The SMS student section, led by Crowd Control, has been an important part of the football team’s improvement over the past few years.

“When we feel this noise and these shouts and stuff behind us, there’s an energy that comes with that, and that helps get the boys motivated,” Head Coach Nick Foster said.

The student section has been able to do more than just motivate the South players.

“If we’re doing good things and our students are getting louder and louder, that’s very disheartening to the opponent as well,” Foster said. “They do a great job of keeping the student body engaged the whole time. You have the student section, your band, your community members, and parents that are all there because it’s our people, it’s us, and that’s who we’re playing for.”

It’s not just coaches who notice the student section, though. Players do, too.

“You can feel it during the game and it helps with momentum and how the game goes,” junior linebacker Zachary Carr said.

Senior Alek Beckley is a Crowd Control captain. His job is to send out social media posts to try to get students to come to the games and follow the themes, such as “tropical” and “blackout” that he helps create for each game.

“We make sure we’re all doing what we’re supposed to and ensure that we’re all cheering for our team,” Beckley said.