On Friday, September 22, Herrin High School celebrated its traditional Homecoming pep rally. The pep rally holds a huge part of Homecoming, not only is it about school spirit, but it is also when we vote on who Mr. Homecoming is for the 2023 school year. Multiple senior boys compete to be Mr. Homecoming, showing off their talents. The talent varied from singing, a cartwheel contest, and an eating contest. This year’s Mr. Homecoming competitors were John Braid, Jonathan Harrison, Jakai Vaughn, Elliot Smith, Luke Hatley, and Logan Clough. Each of the boys brought something different to the table and volunteered with a few other boys to enter a beauty contest where fashion was determined by the teachers.
John Braid chose to do a cartwheel contest, where Braid competed against a few teachers and two cheerleaders to see who could do cartwheels across the floor fastest. With Braid coming in first, the crowd was ecstatic.
Jonathan Harrison decided to sing a cover of “Beautiful Crazy” by Luke Combs, which was hilarious and had the whole crowd laughing and singing along. Jonathan even dressed the part by wearing a flannel, a cowboy hat, and a much shorter friend’s jeans that barely hit the top of his cowboy boots. Jonathan didn’t win Mr. HoCo, but he did go on to win the beauty contest held later in the pep rally.
Finally, Jakai Vaughn, Elliot Smith, and Luke Hatley all competed to see who could eat two quadruple burgers the fastest. With the whole crowd cheering for who they wanted to win, Smith came out on top and won the contest.
Logan Clough sang a cover of “Something In The Orange” by Zach Bryan. The crowd was astonished, many didn’t know what Clough was capable of. Many sang along and some even got emotional during the performance. What Clough didn’t know was while he was performing his mom was in the school and recording the whole performance. Which soon after went viral on TikTok with millions of views. We interviewed Clough and asked him why he chose to sing “Something In The Orange”. Clough stated that he “really loves” Zach Bryan and “Something In The Orange” is his most popular song. Clough figured that most people in the crowd would know it and could sing along. Clough says that, as of now, music doesn’t hold a place in his future. He still wants to play for fun but nothing serious. We also asked him if he practiced for his performance at the pep rally. Clough stated that he did practice but that consisted of singing it the day before.
Not only is Logan a phenomenal singer he is also a part of the National Honor Society and a 3 time state champion relay runner. Clough says, being a state champion is pretty cool and that there is nothing like the state track meet. He also states that this was one of the most fun things that he has ever done.
Logan Clough had a stellar performance at the pep rally the Friday before Homecoming. Singing a cover of “Something In The Orange” by Zach Bryan. However, it didn’t stop there. Once his mom’s TikTok hit the internet, it went VIRAL. Topping out at over five million views, prominent social sites and local news sources were quick to share this out-of-nowhere sensation. A high school gymnasium cheering on a talented student wearing his football jersey and a guitar… It was an epic moment for everyone, especially Logan. The community was quick to pick up on this chance to showcase local talent and Logan went on to open for the LoCash country music star by playing three songs Saturday night at Mountain Dew Park. We hear there are other concert debuts in the works. We will keep you updated as those opportunities to see our Mr. HoCo play out.
