Counting out the timing to get it perfect, senior band members, drill team dancers, and cheerleaders will be joining the drill line on Friday night to perform the fast-paced trombone headchopper routine from the side for four years.

“Headchoppers is going to be different for Senior Night because it will not have any trombone players in the routine, and it will possess only seniors in the routine,” senior Mikael Gevorgyan said. “Also, it’s going to have, in addition to senior band members, senior cheerleaders, and red rhythm members.”

Participating in the routine is something that many seniors have been looking forward to since their first year of high school.

“I’m excited to be able to participate in the head choppers,” senior Natalie Wang said. “Since freshman year, I would always see the trombones do head choppers and thought it was really cool, so it’s pretty exciting that I get to actually get to be a part of it.”

However, due to the much larger size of the group, the performance will be less complex compared to what students are used to.

“The students will prepare for this by having one advisory practice the week of or prior that will involve me and other senior trombones teaching them,” Gevorgyan said. “The routine is a basic one for that reason as teaching around 40 people in one advisory means the routine cannot be extremely complex.”

For senior Justin Chen, participating will be a bittersweet moment as he closes out his final high school game.

“I’m really excited to be in the headchoppers line,” Chen said. “I’ve been watching the trombones do it every game, and I have always wanted to be a part of it. It’s going to be sad because it’s my last game at high school, but it will be a fun way to end the season.”

Gevorgyan’s first experience with the headchoppers over six years ago, eventually led him to become its leader.

“The first time I saw headchoppers was actually for senior night when I was in 7th grade, and I thought it was very interesting that it had all of the instruments, and it looked like everyone was having fun,” Gevorgyan said. “Then, when I learned what it actually looked like regularly when I was a freshman, I got super excited about it because it was something specific to the trombones and that’s why I ended up choosing to lead it as a senior.”

The final performance for seniors not only also allows them to reflect on their high school career, but also look to the future.

“When I saw headchoppers for the first time it was pretty crazy because they move at such a fast speed,” Wang said. “Everyone would hype them up so it really makes the experience even better. It’s crazy to think that senior night will be my last football game for highschool because I’ve gone to every game, but once I’m in college I’ll be going as a normal student. It has been fun being able to watch the football team change over my four years of highschool.”