EDINBURG — Blue and sunset orange flags danced and waved, percussionists performed in near-perfect syncopation, brass and woodwind students gestured while playing in a half-circle, and drum majors conducted as music seemed to reverberate into the autumn wind — it’s Pigskin season, and all felt right in the world at the marching band practice field at Edinburg North High School on Wednesday.
The Mighty Cougar Band has been rehearsing in preparation for the annual Pigskin Jubilee, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 15 at the McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium, where marching bands in the eastern portion of the county will be competing. The La Joya ISD PACK stadium will be hosting the competition for bands located in the western side of the county at the same time and day.
Edinburg North is working on perfecting its show, titled “Fields of Gold,” which is a celebration of nature and growth.
Band director Chad Dempsey and his drum majors, Alexis Quilantan and Diogo Perales, are excited about the show and feel confident about their chances of making it to the state competition later this year.
“I can’t say any of our shows are better than the last, they just feel different,” Quilantan, 17, said with a smirk on her face. “I really like the element of surprise that it has. We’ve been working on this for so long so it’s just really nice to see everything coming together.”
When asked what her favorite part of the show is, she found it difficult to choose just one movement.
“My favorite part I guess would be Movement 3 because it is so exciting, like it is the awe of the show. But I also like Movement 2 because I am a soloist and so I have a quartet with some other woodwind players and a French horn,” Quilantan said, adding that she’s impressed with the creativity of this years’ show.
Both Quilantan and Perales have participated in previous pigskin competitions and believe that each year brings a change in perspective and inspiration for the show.
Last year’s theme revolved around the word “shine” and highlighted society returning from the “dark times” created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dempsey, who will be participating in Pigskin for his 17th year, wanted to continue that theme into this year’s show by emphasizing perseverance — a literal and metaphorical interpretation of how happiness can stem from enduring hardships.
This is all represented in the show with the use of sunflowers.
“The show is about sunflowers … the sunflower represents all things that are good in life, the things that make you feel good and the things that make you happy,” Dempsey said.
For Perales, 18, a clarinet player in the marching band, this year’s show goes hand in hand with the previous year.
“This is just more optimism, more good spirits being spread around,” Perales said, “It is about the hardships we go through but eventually we make our gardens grow, we enjoy the fruits of our labor, we get to put in hard work and get hard-earned pleasure. I think our show really translates that.”
That optimism also exists in how the band members like their chances at scoring a Division 1 at Pigskin, considering the nature of the show, how hard the band’s been working to learn the music and the sets and synchronize.
“I’m extremely confident,” Perales said, adding that they are incorporating both classical and modern music that he feels will resonate with judges.
That confidence is backed up by effort, according to the band director, who said the band has practiced six to seven hours a week since late July.
He added that although there is still work to get done, he believes that his kids are ready to take on Pigskin and move on to the Area competition. The goal? Make state.
