Every year, Neuqua versus Waubonsie is one of the school’s most highly anticipated games- the war of 204. It is the biggest rivalry that Neuqua has out of all of the teams in the DuPage Valley Conference. The DVC is comprised of six high schools in DuPage Valley that compete against each other in various sports. In this case, the showdown between these rivals puts a lot at stake. They compete both on and off of the field because not only is each team’s standing on the line, but also which school has more spirit. During the week leading up to the big game, there are several actions Neuqua takes to amplify their school spirit. One of these things includes the Production III and IV classes creating a spirit week video. This year’s video is a four-part saga entitled “Copycat”.

Since the beginning of the year, these two classes have worked together to brainstorm ideas on how to structure this video. The premise for this year is as follows: a copy of Willie the Wildcat is sent in from Waubonsie to eliminate all of the school spirit in Neuqua. Since Willie is the school’s mascot, the video is meant to not only evoke excitement to get him back but increase the school’s passion to beat Waubonsie in the football game.

There were many people involved in the creative process of the video. It took the two classes about three to four days to record each segment and an additional day to edit all of the footage. Matthew McDonnell, a senior in Production IV, was part of both the filming and editing. While he enjoyed the whole production process, his favorite part was, “when Willie set off a bunch of bees in the library. We [the production classes] were in there during the fifth period and it was so funny because we had everyone panic when the bees got released. So, you had people screaming, running, hiding under tables, and flipping chairs.”

The two rivals will duke it out at the football game Saturday, September 28 on Waubonsie’s turf. If you missed any of the “Copycat” segments, you can check out the Student Splash page at neuquastudent.org, or Neuqua Media’s YouTube channel. Will Willie the Wildcat return and can Neuqua pull out a win over Waubonsie? Show your school spirit and come to the game to find out.