JADE HEASLEY/The Luminary  Freshman Olivia Walk, left, was crowned the Homecoming Princess at Montgomery's ceremony on Friday, September 24.  She is pictured with senior Mallorie Myers who was the Homecoming Queen. Traditionally the queen and princess are crowned at the ceremony on Friday night and the king and prince are crowned at the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night.  Thayden Miller was the Homecoming King and Dylan Hill was the Homecoming Prince.

Montgomery Area High School had their Homecoming Game on Friday, September 17. Montgomery students, alumni, and residents came to enjoy the traditional Homecoming game and ceremony.

During the ceremony the candidates were escorted onto the edge of the field and walked through a red and white balloon arch as their names, extra-curricular activities, and post-high school plans were announced to the crowd.

The candidates for Homecoming Queen included: Addison Heasley, Brynn McRae, Shelby McRae, Taylor McRae, and Mallorie Myers. Mallorie Myers was crowned Queen during the Homecoming ceremony at halftime. The Homecoming King candidates were: Logan Almeida, Devon Deem, Thayden Miller, Colby Springman, and Tanner Springman. Thayden Miller was crowned King at the Homecoming dance that was held on Saturday, September 18.

The Eleventh Grade Representatives were Sloan Wooten and Noah Gearhart.

The Tenth Grade Representatives were Brynn Fisher and Caden Finck.

The candidates for Homecoming Princess included: Delilah Preitz, Isabella Staggert, and Olivia Walk. Olivia Walk was crowned Princess during the ceremony at halftime. The Homecoming Prince candidates were: Dylan Hill, Hayden Wilt, and Braiden Winter. Dylan Hill was crowned Prince at the Homecoming dance.

The Homecoming activities were overseen by Shanna Haden, a middle school teacher. She has been in charge of Homecoming at Montgomery for the past few years. Carina McNear and Jessica Carpenter helped to coordinate the ceremony.

This year Red Raider fans got to enjoy a new Homecoming tradition of the Montgomery Cheerleading Annual Alumni Game. Coach Sierra Aichner said that 17 former Red Raider cheerleaders came back to participate in the first-time event, and they ranged from the Class of 1999 to the Class of 2021. The alumni cheerleaders wore matching Red Raider t-shirts and hairbows and did an excellent job keeping in step with the current varsity cheerleaders.

When Aichner heard that another school was doing an Alumni Cheerleading event, she wanted to do one at Montgomery. She was originally hoping to have one in 2020 but it wasn’t possible due to the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place at the time.

Aichner, a Loyalsock native, began her time as a cheerleader in elementary school and continued until she was in college at Lock Haven University. She participated in competitive cheer as well. She began coaching the Red Raider cheerleading team in November of 2018. She also teaches high school English at Montgomery.

When asked about what she hopes will come from the Alumni Cheerleading event, she said, “I really hope that we continue to build a great Raider legacy and we can build our program on a multi-generational level starting from the ground up and really see it grow and become a positive environment for everybody in the community.”

The Homecoming Game was played against the Sayre Redskins. The final score was 16-36, marking the first time this season that the Red Raiders were defeated. But even with the setback, the Raiders are having their best season of this century.