The football is flying through the air, the players scrambling to catch it. They dive for it simultaneously, reaching for it with all their might. Then the buzzer goes off. The second quarter of the football game is over; signaling the players to leave the field for their well-earned break. But now that they are momentarily gone, someone else will be taking the stage: the Mustang Band and Color Guard!

With their show called “Body, Mind, and Soul” they will be performing  4 movements: the opener, the ballad, the drum break, and the closer.

The opener is quick paced and gives the show a strong start.  The guard matches the speedy beat with purple and pink silks and white wooden rifles. In the second movement, the band will turn it down a notch and play slow, soothing music. The pieces of equipment in the ballad are purple swing flags (silks taped to three-foot wooden poles) and metal sabers. During the drum break, the drumline and percussion show off their skills as they play an enchanting piece of music, to which the color guard once again use their rifles. The closer music is nearly identical to the opener, but has all of the members with gold and yellow silks through till the end, striking the audience with a bright and colorful ensemble moment.

Band wears blue, white, and crimson uniforms to represent YL’s school colors. Their uniform includes blue bibbers, a white and blue jacket with a silver, crimson, and white sash, and a blue hat with a white plume to top it off.

The Color Guard, however, are in gold and dark purple costumes, which compliment the Band’s lighter colors. The top of the costume is mostly gold with purple stitching and cutting of at the left shoulder. On the right, the gold fabric goes up to the end of the shoulder and drapes off, transitioning to a tan-gold color. Along with the tan-gold fabric, dark purple bands hangs off, which are crossed around the arm. Finally, the legs are made out of a dark purple fabric and the back of the costume is draped with a light purple skirt that flows behind them while they dance and spin.

Recently, the Band and Color Guard had a field show competition against two other high schools on Saturday, October 22. They are in the 2A Gold Division, which separates them into ranks according to the size of the band. There were six high schools total that competed in the 2A division, but they were separated into two different divisions so that some of them didn’t have to go home with a fourth, fifth, or sixth place trophy. In both the Gold and overall 2A division, YL won second place with a score of 67.5, 8.5 points behind first.

Although their first show may have had a rough start, this will not keep them down. With thorough practice, they will climb their way to the top!