The Huntingdon QB Club held their annual football jamboree this past Friday, and it was good to see it back after an absence of a year because of this pandemic that continues to haunt us.
This jamboree is the jamboree that a lot of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers played in. if I have my history correct, the jamboree started in Lexington in 1965 and moved to Huntingdon in 1966. The original purpose of the jamboree was to help provide for player insurance, but that is done in a different way now and the monies go back to the schools.
The jamboree stayed in Huntingdon from that first year of 1966 until a few years ago when jamborees started having trouble getting teams to commit — or teams that traditionally played in the Huntingdon jamboree started getting poached by other jamborees. That’s why a few years ago Lexington and Huntingdon started alternating years as to hosting the jamboree. And this year, Adamsville and McNairy County joined in the fun at Paul Ward Stadium.
Having been involved in these kind of things before, let me say what a great jamboree that the Huntingdon QB Club hosted this year. The idea of food trucks outside the stadium was a great idea, and it attracted people to the Huntingdon High School campus if not for anything but to buy food. The only thing I would have added would have been to set up a big tent so people could have sat and enjoyed their food before entering the stadium.
It turned out to be a perfect night weather-wise. It rained up to a little bit before kickoff and stopped in time so that no one got wet. The humidity was down, and for August, it was a great night to have a football game.
I also liked the idea of letting the JV teams play, which gives the youngsters a chance to play on the big field when they may not during the regular season.
If you were a Huntingdon fan, then the football team added to an already great experience provided by the QB Club. The JV team scored 24 points and the Varsity scored 21, and neither allowed a point. Both played two 12-minute quarters with a running clock, and for this time of the year, the Mustangs looked ready to take on the world as they executed their offense to perfection.
The jamboree gave a lot of folks a lot to get excited about, and, again, the QB Club did a great job.
