The Legacy Band attended its first contest at Cabot High School, Oct. 4 and placed first overall. The band received the awards for Best Drum Major, Best Solo, Best Color Guard, Best Percussion, Best Marching, Best Music and Best Band.

“These past two years were hard with Mr. Matthews. It was his first time teaching The Legacy when I was a sophomore, but this summer at practice, we knew,” senior and head drum major Caroline Cato said. “We knew that we were going to work hard and get a lot better. When I was conducting, I was so nervous, but then I heard the cheers and I just couldn’t stop smiling. It just felt like the best day of my life.”

The show, “Criminal,” contains two songs by The Who, a dubstep played by percussion and a song by Michael Jackson. In the first movement, the criminal steals a briefcase and runs from the law. The criminal, played by senior Casey Rogers, falls in love in the second movement with a trumpet player. She’s captured by the police in the third movement, but soon breaks out for the fourth movement, where she runs away and kills the boy she thought she loved.

“The fact that it could go either way was nerve wracking,” junior drum major Jacob Mitchell said. “It’s like we did everything we could, but we didn’t know if it was good enough. I felt super anxious and I knew that in a few seconds everything could happen. I had no way of knowing if it would go well or not, and that scared me.”

When the announcer said that The Legacy won first overall, the band erupted in cheers.

“As a senior, I felt it was our time. Sophomore and junior year went fine, but we never swept the competition like we did this Saturday,” senior drum major Cody Jones said. “It’s like it was our turn. We pushed hard so far this season and it has definitely paid off.”