ROXANA – The community has rallied around the Roxana football team this year as the team has put on an undefeated season and is now 12-0 they will play next Saturday at home against Mt. Carmel at 3 pm with the winner advancing to the state championship.
This year has been a memorable season partly because of the community. Whether the Shells were on the road or at home the fans showed up in numbers and cheered the Shells on. Saturday was no different fans showed up at the Roxana Community Park next to the high school and gave a big sendoff for the Shells as they traveled to Stanford Olympia High School for the quarterfinal football game.
As the charter bus with the team left with a police and fire escort the fans cheered them on. Stanford Olympia was a two-hour and ten-minute drive north but that didn’t stop the community from driving up. When the gates opened today you saw a lot of red shirts entering the gates.
As the fans arrived the Roxana bleachers filled up quickly and people started looking for other seats. Several Roxana fans lined the fence around the field. Fans also had to move to the Stanford Olympia side and used a section of their bleachers.
During the game, it was electrifying at points it sounded like you were at a home game in Roxana at Charles Raich Field. At the end of the game, the Shells came out on top with a 56-30 win.
For the fans that didn’t make the drive that didn’t matter because several businesses threw watch parties. Wood River Moose, Airliner Bar and Grill in Rosewood Heights, and Little Four Traveren in East Alton all had the game on for the fans.
Schools that are considered rivals put out Facebook posts cheering all the Shells. EAWR Athletics put out a Facebook post saying “The Oilers with our Cahokia Confrence friends the best as they play in the IHSA quarter-finals” The Civic Memorial Eagles Girls basketball team made a video telling them good luck.
When Roxana Football coach Wade Devries was asked about the town coming out and supporting them he said ” Of course just wait till next week in Roxana ”
When the Shells arrived back from Stanford the fans were waiting. Several police and fire departments were waiting and escorted back to the High School with sirens and lights as the fans lined 111 and cheered them back.
