Honors Students and Flag Football Championships

It's the Wednesday after fall break for Georgia College students.

Usually, that means re-working oneself back into the grind of academics on a daily basis. For the honors dorm on-campus, Bell Hall, it's even more difficult than normal to find a groove.

Today, one of the dorm's flag football teams will play for a championship.

Nobody remembers when (or even if) Bell has ever had this chance before. Usually, people hear what dorm the players live in and take pity.

"One flag football game we played, I was talking to the opposing team's captain," team captain T.J. Cornay says. "He asked what dorm we were from, so I told him Bell Hall."

"His reaction was 'Oh, I'm sorry" and I told him I wasn't sorry at all."

Cornay leads 11 other guys under the name 'We Like Tight Ends' and his 6'1'', 180 pound, somewhat pudgy frame conceals a high football IQ with hands that can catch anything. Before lunch, he wakes up and prepares for a normal school day; there's no need to sweat the night until it comes, because their plan will be the same as the rest of the season: Make it up as they go.

Later in the afternoon, Chelsea Nicewander, Kaitlyn Mobley, and Shelbie Minear team up to make signs showing their support for the team. Scattered on the dorm floor are paper plates and plenty of markers, and the sound of scribbling quickly fills the room.

"We're friends with most of the guys on the team," Nicewander says. "The other Bell team, which has more of our closer friends on its roster, didn't make it." Minear adds it's their unique way of adding to the experience:
"Tonight is going to be better than a high school football game, because we'll create everything that goes into it."

The "other Bell team" plans on supporting their dorm-mates in different ways. 'Illegal WHAT?!' fell in the quarterfinals, one game short of creating an all-Bell semifinal for a spot in the finals.

Instead, the team that beat them had to turn around and play Cornay's squad that same night; team captain Brad Williams gave Cornay a full scouting report before 'Tight Ends' took the field for a 19-6 victory.

Before heading to dinner, Williams and four others are gathered in a small rehearsal room towards the back of Porter Hall, Georgia College's music building. Every person in the room played in his respective high school marching band, and between the competing blasts of a trumpet and trombone to an underlying drum beat comes reminiscing of each one's time spent in band.

"We are going to blast their ears off," sophomore and trumpeter Drew Corley says.

Finally, the time comes: Decked in white undershirts and assorted colors of gym shorts, 'We Like Tight Ends' takes the field to the delight of over 50 Bell hall residents. 'Tight Ends' quickly falls behind 14-0, and with the opposition threatening for another score, the full force of the sideline erupts: Band playing three steady beat notes, and fans yelling "Let's go Bell! Let's go Bell!"

The pass falls incomplete, keeping the score within reach.

In the third quarter, the sound arsenal has added another twenty people and even a vuvuzela (the constant buzzing sound at this year's World Cup in South Africa). Spectators from another championship game that's turned into a blowout and players for the next game have joined the growing crowd to see what the fuss is about.
"This is absolutely insane," one guy says. "I'd never imagined an intramural game with this kind of atmosphere before." A girl next to him turns and says "That's because we're Bell Hall!"

Trailing 28-8 but driving, Cornay takes off down the right sideline and hauls in a bomb, juking left to avoid a flag pull before diving into the end zone to close the gap, prompting multiple horns honking and and eruption of cheers.
The ensuing drive, Bell forces a fourth down; this time, everyone combines to yell "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" in the same pitch.

It's so loud, the referees can't hear each other's whistles.

'We Like Tight Ends' ends up losing by 21, but few frowns can be found on the sideline.
Cornay and his teammates pose for pictures and thank everyone for supporting their playoff run, giving props to the entire dorm for unifying to make some noise.

"I was so nervous before because I didn't want to screw up in front of everyone I knew," Cornay says afterwards. "But it was still a heckuva experience, and I think it set our dorm apart from all the others."

A week later, signs saying "Let's Go Bell!" and "Win something!" can still be found in some people's rooms; Cornay is still recounting the experience with friends and analyzing what went wrong with Williams on the front porch.
"We did something maybe nobody's done before for this dorm," Cornay says. "And I really do think we turned some heads with our play and the crowd's support."

It's an event many won't soon forget.