Losing the game was not the only loss faced by Etowah cheerleaders, athletic directors, and audio video technology students over the weekend. A broken air conditioner, a jammed door, and a bus with engine trouble added up to a miserable yet memorable trip.

“It was basically a series of worst case scenarios, but it turned into team bonding, and we all had a lot of fun,” Taylor Glass, senior cheerleader, said.

On the way to Colquitt County High School, the first problem the students faced was the broken AC. Once the bus reached its first stop at Dooly County High School, the bus drivers were able to reset the AC, which made the trip more bearable.

“When the AC broke, I could not wait to get off the bus, and when we did, I did not want to get back on,” Madalynn Franz, sophomore athletic trainer, said.

After a stop for lunch, the athletic trainers were transferred to a different bus headed to the high school, leaving the cheerleaders and AV tech team behind to wait for another bus. Nearly 45 minutes later, a passerby jump-started the bus, so the students could get back on the road.

“When I figured out the bus broke down, I believed we were going to be late to the game, but in the meantime, I was able to buy batteries that I needed [for my equipment] to work the game,” Colin Wagner, senior AV tech student, said.

After arriving at the high school, students sprinted to get off the bus, only to find the door jammed. Fortunately, someone outside the bus loosened the door, so students could finally exit.

“Although the whole night was pretty much a disaster, and it’s the end of the season, I think it was a good bonding experience for the team. In the moment, we were miserable, but we were going to look back on the night and laugh about how much of a mess it was,” Zoey Zucker, junior cheerleader, said.

Although students were exhausted by this point, there was still a game to play. Colquitt County Packers, ranked number one in the state and fifth in the nation, still had not scored with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter. With a minute and 38 seconds on the clock, Etowah senior Sean Hopper kicked a 38-yard field goal making the score 3-0.

“It felt good to put up some points to get ahead of the number one team in the state,” Sean Hopper, senior, said.

With the final score of 34-5 and a miserable bus ride, students still managed to focus on the positives.

“The most memorable part of the game was when we scored first and got two turnovers to start the game,” Ethan Ritchie, junior, said.

Friday’s game was the last official one of the season.

“I loved being able to spend my last game with my friends and experience the whole cheer program all four years,” Lexie Rohlbuller, senior cheerleader, said.

After the tortuous trip, the buses arrived back at Etowah 17 hours after they departed Eagle Mountain the day before.