JFK Bellmore students get bonfire, carnival with their homecoming win

Embers flew across the sky from the bonfire around the seniors at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore Friday night.

The Cougars took on Rockville Centre's South Side Cyclones in their homecoming game and won 17-0, with the atmosphere adding to all the fun on the field.

This was the third homecoming game held on a Friday under the lights for JFK Bellmore, with attendees adorned in Cougar green and black.

Principal Lorraine Poppe said not many other high schools were doing night games and she wanted Kennedy to be different. That combined with the pep rally earlier in the day, the carnival and a bonfire created a special day for the students.

This was the first game for Jennifer Rakhimor, a freshman at the school.

“It’s my first football game not on TV,” she said. “But it’s high school, you can’t not come and have fun.”

It’s a little different experience for the seniors.

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: High school homecomings across LI

"It's nerve-racking to think that it's almost over,” said Maria Wurthz, a senior who was at her first and last homecoming game as a student at Kennedy. “We never appreciated it before now so we are trying to enjoy ourselves."