The Robinson Marching Band proved that even “The Underdog” can overcome the toughest of challenges on Saturday night, Oct. 28 at Newsome high school as they competed against schools in their division and came in 3rd place overall, even when the weather did not work in their favor.

“I feel that under the circumstances with all the changes that have happened because of the rain and stuff, I’m really proud of the kids, they really did a great job bringing it all together, I think they gave a great show in the gym,” Band Director Chris Revett, said. “You know, they gave everything they have and we’ve been really working hard on a bunch of stuff that really came together tonight.”

This year, the theme for the show was “The Underdog”, similar to the classic “Rocky” movie where a small time boxer takes on a heavyweight champion. Originally, the performance was supposed to take place on the football field but the rain caused the event to be moved  indoors. Since there are over 100 members included in the show, the starlets were forced to perform separately, which may have effected their overall score.

“We were supposed to perform on the field, but due to the rain we couldn’t perform. Instead we practiced and then performed in front of the Newsome color guard.” Starlets captain Reginald Allen(’19), said. “I feel that the performance was good because things that we had trouble on looked a lot better then they were before.”

Despite the unfortunate weather, Drum Major Bryce Buckland (’18) still felt as though the Knights gave an extraordinary performance.

“This was by far the best we’ve ever played it tonight,” Buckland said. “I am super, super pumped. Everybody was focused, everybody was locked in and I think that was a show we can all be proud of.”

Leesburg High School ended up taking first place with Plant High School coming in second, leaving the Knights in third and Freedom High School in fourth. There was definitely some disappointment in the group, however, Robinson took the night as practice for their Music Performance Assessment.

“We usually have [competition] every week in preparation for MPA,” Buckland said. “There have been some years where we do it once a week but we try to be a little lenient this year with time management so, usually once every week.”

The MPA will take place Saturday, Nov. 4 at Gaither High School. Two weeks after that is the State Semi-Finals,  where the band will be able to go up against the best competition the state has to offer with bands around the same size as them.

“Every time we have rehearsals were just looking to get  cleaner, to get more people to look the same,” Revett Said. “The hardest thing about marching band is we’ve got 153 people that are on the field and the goal is that nobody looks different, and so when you’re trying to make 153 people all look the same it’s quite a challenge.”