By Ken Foyle ‘20

What do an obstacle course, a rock climbing slide, basketball hoops, and bouncy house boxing all have in common? They’re all right outside the cafeteria doors during Homecoming Week. Even the teachers get involved in the festivities, like first-year teacher Mr. Woods, who made himself notorious in the ring.

On Wednesday Oct. 9, Mr. Woods challenged freshman DeMarcus Caston to a boxing match in the bouncy house using huge gloves that come along with the game. The “big boxing” ring is a student favorite as it keeps coming back every year.

Going into the fight, Caston felt pretty confident. He said, “I felt good… I felt like if I hit him a couple of times, he would fall.” Little did he know that Mr. Woods was not going to go easy on him.

The match started with Mr. Woods striking first. He threw a few huge punches that sent DeMarcus to the floor. DeMarcus got back up on his feet and the match continued.

Mr. Woods kept on ripping into DeMarcus as he threw another series of punches that landed DeMarcus right back on the ground, but DeMarcus was not going to let him end the fight unscathed. Nearing the end, Caston got back up on his feet and threw one of the hardest punches of the fight, which knocked Mr. Woods down for the first time of the match, but it wasn’t enough for him to get the victory.

The fight was over and Mr. Woods strutted out of the ring with a strong victory and had earned himself the title of the new teacher boxing champion, dethroning Mr. Peters, who put on a strong showing in the ring last year. He said, “he used the same technique that I tried using last year.  That is, as soon as the bell rings, to do a bull rush on your opponent to knock him down.”

When asked about why he chose to fight DeMarcus, Mr. Woods said, “I have him in my class so it was a great way to connect with him as my student. Also, he was acting like a big shot and thought he could beat me.” Mr. Woods also said that he wants to challenge Andrew Love, or better known as KJ, next.

The boxing match made Homecoming Week even more fun than it already was. Senior Connor Bowes, who watched the fight, said, “The fight was really intense and a ton of fun to watch.” Needless to say, students will be looking forward to next year’s homecoming and big bouncy boxing matches that will come with it.