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The cheer girls strike their pose as they go into formation for their final stance.
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Memorial’s drum majors, Addison Tanksley, Jamari Blue, Garrett Fullmer, and Carter Guthrie, encouraged everyone to watch their halftime performance.
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The pom girls do their final pose of their routine.
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The cheer team holds signs to hype up the crowd’s spirit.
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The first Edlam football game of the season was won by Edmond Memorial on Edmond North’s home turf.
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Senior Evyn Ackerman cheers on the crowd from the sideline.
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Memorial’s band created an exciting environment and increased the crowd’s spirit.
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Coach Meredith made sure the team stayed focused to achieve victory.
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Cam Quarrels races to the end zone and scores a touchdown.
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Memorial’s pom squad encouraged the crowd to cheer for the football team along with them.
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Senior Dog Pound member, Jonas Lawrence, storms the home side of the field after a touchdown.
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Parker Files intercepts the ball and runs down the field.
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The student section exploded with excitement after the football team scored another touchdown.
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Memorial’s cheer team celebrate the win.
As football season at Edmond Memorial High School begins, tensions between the three main high schools in Edmond, Edmond North, Edmond Memorial and Edmond Santa Fe, grow stronger. So when Beat North week began last week, the Memorial community came together to support the Bulldogs against the rival Huskies.
The infamous rivalry between the three Edmond high schools dates back over 30 years. Originally, there was only one high school in the area, Edmond High School, which later became Memorial High School. The rapid increase in the Edmond population caused Memorial to split into the three high schools Edmond has today.
“North is just the up-and-comer,” senior Jonas Lawrence, a student council spirit chair, said. “They’re the little brother, and we need to show them who’s boss and who’s been here longer. We’re the originals.”
It is a tradition at high schools in Edmond to have dress-up days the week of the EMHS vs. ENHS football game. Each dress-up day for the week is thoughtfully planned and picked out by the student council. Some of the dress-up days for the 2025 Beat North week include Favorite Decades, Nerdy North and White Out. The dress-up days are meant for students to have fun during their normal school day and to create a sense of community. Junior Aniah Pearson has noticed how the dress-up days bring people together.
“When people dress up at school, it makes the underclassmen feel like they shouldn’t be embarrassed to show up and show out,” Pearson said. “When everyone is matching, it brings people closer together and once again continues to bud new friendships within the school.”
The spirit week at EMHS is not the only activity that creates a sense of belonging and friendship within the Bulldog community. When it comes to Edlam games, students come together to support. The sea of students all dressed in white filled North’s stadium, so when the players looked out, they could clearly see their people there to cheer them on.
The final event before the game was the Beat North Assembly on Friday. During this assembly, speakers such as Jonas Lawrence and head football coach Justin Merideth made a final attempt to drum up excitement for the game so that students would cheer on the football team against the Huskies. It brings excitement for the big game by showing how EMHS students come together during these spirit weeks.
“As spirit chair, my main role is just [raising] school spirit, and the main facet of that is definitely during the assemblies,” Lawrence said. “So a lot of that is just talking to the administration and talking to people, putting things together and really just getting people hyped up.”
Edlam football games not only provide an entertaining game for the students, they also provide a giant student crowd all coming together to support and cheer on one another for the same cause, rooting for their team to win.
“I feel so much love from everybody around me and always feel that the crowd is ready to participate with the game and with each other,” Pearson said. “Little game conversations are so fun. Sometimes, if you say something, somebody will turn around and agree with you and suddenly you’re having a conversation with a new friend.”
For the football team, Edlam games bring immense pressure. Traditionally, they have the largest turnout and the entire student body is counting on them to win. It is important for the team to not let these pressures affect their gameplay. In order to keep their eye on the prize, the football team works hard to prepare.
“We as coaches push our players pretty tough,” Merideth said. “We ask them to do a lot of work, and they’ve done just that. It’s been a great attitude. It’s been a ‘What can we do better, Coach?’ kind of attitude, so it’s been a great week of practice.”
The Edmond Memorial vs. Edmond North game and Beat North Week are timeless traditions. The rivalry unites the student body through dress up days, assemblies and football. Because of the immense support from the Bulldogs, EMHS took home the win for this year’s Memorial v North game with the score being 35-18. The next Edlam game is Edmond Memorial vs. Edmond Santa Fe on Oct. 3.
Contact Paisley Edgin and Erin Hamm at [email protected]
