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Juan Diego homecoming a soaring success

Oct 28, 2016 09:52AM ● By Jared Mc Cauley

Juan Diego won their homecoming game against Grantsville 34–21. (Juan Diego High School)

By Jared McCauley | [email protected]



Draper, Utah - Much like pumpkin spice lattes and trick-or-treating, homecoming is a staple of American life in autumn. Homecoming is about much more than just a high school football game and dancing.  

“Homecoming is iconic. Even schools that don’t have football programs have a homecoming,” said Juan Diego Head Football Coach John Colosimo following the homecoming game against Grantsville High School on Sept. 30.

While homecoming in itself may not be unique, Juan Diego’s certainly was. The school and its community become something larger than itself. 

“What makes homecoming at Juan Diego special is the community,” Colosimo said. 

The festivities drew an attendance of nearly 1,000 fans. The community is very proud of the school and its athletic programs. The game attracted much more than just current students and parents. Proud alums and their parents also came to support their team. 

Juan Diego is known for keeping the ball on the ground with a run-heavy offense, but that did not keep fans from looking to the sky throughout the game. That was because of a drone adorned with a video camera hovering above the playing field. The drone followed the action on the field overhead, giving this midseason 3A high school football game a sense of heightened importance. 

Other than the obvious pageantry and fanfare before the game and at halftime, the clearest sign that it was homecoming at Juan Diego was this drone. In fact, the use of that technology to film the game from a bird’s eye view was such an awe-inspiring spectacle that it drew enough “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd to drown out the buzz of the drone. 

While the drone may have had the best view of the action on the field, the fans in attendance certainly went home happy with a 34–21 victory. 

Pageantry aside, the game was all business for the team. Colosimo said he appreciates the sense of community and school spirit that homecoming inspires but dislikes the consistent distractions to his players leading up to and during the game. Colosimo told his team to treat this game just like any other to take off some of the pressure of a must-win game midway through the season. 

Winning the game came at an integral part of the season for the Soaring Eagle football team. After losing one region game earlier in the season, winning this game positioned the Soaring Eagle for the playoffs. With a rough start to the season by Juan Diego standards, this homecoming game represented a turning point for the Soaring Eagle. Grantsville, Juan Diego’s opponent for their homecoming game, is a solid team and had a chance at beating out Juan Diego for a playoff spot. By winning their matchup with Grantsville, Juan Diego helped position themselves for a playoff spot and gave the team some much needed confidence after a rocky start to the season.