The Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA) is proud to present the IHSA Traditions Series throughout the 2022-23 school year. The IPPA represents Generations of Commitment to Illinoisans and is proud to highlight some of the most unique high school sports traditions that are passed down from generation to generation within IHSA school communities.

Each month during the 2022-23 school year, the IPPA Traditions Series will feature a storied school tradition and provide a unique perspective on the history and story behind it…

Wilmington High School Football Team Entrance
“They came from the woods” may sound like the title of a bad horror movie, but that nomenclature is fitting for opponents coming to Wilmington High School to face the Wildcats in football. Becker Field at Jeff Rents Stadium, which is located at Wilmington’s Middle School, has been a house of horrors for opposing teams through the years, as the Wildcats are 122-17 at home since 1999.

Each of those contests has begun with one of the most distinctive team entrances in high school sports.

The Wildcat team gathers out of sight within the timber that bookends the field’s south endzone. Amidst the fog created by a fire extinguishers and the flashing lights from the vehicles of local first responders, a cavalcade of motorcycles bearing Wildcat flags emerge from the woods to set the stage.
The motorcycles then form a tunnel and rev their engines as the team materializes from the smoke and runs onto the field. Once they reach the field, the motorcycle tunnel is extended on both sides by a human tunnel made up of the marching band, students, and fans. The team eventually breaches the cheerleader banner, at which point fireworks explode in the distance, culminating one of the great spectacles in high school sports and signifying that it’s time for kickoff!

Wilmington High School Athletic Director Brian Goff confirmed that the idea for “coming out of the woods” was conceived in 1999.

“An actual path was cut through the woods, and the team came out of the woods for the first time during the 2000 season,” said Goff. “The human tunnel with the band, student body, and community members started in 2000, as well as the fireworks. In the 2005, the motorcycles were added to the entrance. We typically have around 20 motorcycles but have had as many as 45 at one game.”

Goff reflected further on the origins of the concept: “Coach Reents is always looking for ways to make being a Wildcat football player special for the players.  In the fall of 1999, Coach Reents, myself and our School Liaison Officer, Dan Brimer, were discussing what we could do to bring more excitement for the players and fans. Dan remembered seeing Lemont's team enter from over a hill, and the idea of using the woods was born. That next spring, Brimer cut a path, by hand, through the woods, and in 2000 the tradition started.”

Wilmington School Board member and football chain gang member Tim Cragg is the link between game night and the motorcycles. Cragg gets the motorcycles lined up and signals them when it's time to come out of the woods. Community member Terry Garvey was originally charged with getting motorcyclists to volunteer to attend the game, a job that player parents Rich and Kristi Sundine have since taken over.

The Football Booster Club, the CatBackers, sponsor the fireworks, while the Wilmington Fire Department add the fire extinguishers, and for playoff games bring the smoke machines to add smoke to the show.

Wilmington High School provided this amazing drone footage of their famed entrance…



Unsurprisingly, Wilmington’s viral entrance been featured numerous times on social media, as the YouTube videos below from 2014 and 2008 help show the evolution of this tradition over time…