Co-SoCal Student Section of the Week for Week 9: Chino Cowboys Country

Off Student Section Buzz,

A tie?

Yes, but this is SoCal Student Sections and we share the wealth.

Besides thanks to you, we broke a record for most votes for the Student Section of the week with 3,169 votes.

The all-time record is 5,734 votes when Rancho Cucamonga took the 2018 SoCal Football Student Section title over the Villa Park Black Pack!

Now, we know a tie isn’t as ideal and while past winners brag about winning it alone, remember this, 3,169 votes and Chino Cowboy Country took 35% of the votes, which means Cowboy Country took over 1,100 votes whereas Week 8 winner took 37% of the 1,846 votes, which means 683 votes. 

So while Cowboy Country tied, they went crazy on the votes. Nothing to be discouraged about!

The Chino Cowboys were one of the best football programs in the Inland Empire in the 90s, but with new schools popping up, talent goes elsewhere. It has been tough to bring a crowd to Chino, but that has all changed this year.

With the “Milkcan” on the line against their rival Don Lugo of Chino in a Mt. Baldy League matchup. 

Don Lugo, which made a CIF-SS Finals appearance two seasons ago, had themselves a battle on the field and in the stands.

Despite the 15-14 loss to Don Lugo, Cowboy Country took the win in the student section battle! This crazy bunch went wild and the Cowboy community has noticed.

Cowboy Country is moving up in the Inland Empire Student Section world and two stepped their way to another win, sharing the weekly title with the Bishop Amat Dawgpound as the Week 9 Co-SoCal Student Section of the Week title. 

We spoke with ASB President Riley Taylor, Cowboy Country leader, junior Gianni Gibbs and Water Polo coach Chris Hulme, who is in charge of Cowboy Country on what it took to take this record breaking title.

You guys are the Week Nine Co-So Cal Student Section of the week with Bishop Amat Dawgpound, beating out the Carlsbad Loud Crowd and Corona del Mar Kings Krew. What did it take to stand out as one of the best in Southern California?

Taylor: Our amazing students, without Cowboy Country things like this would not be possible and our great leaders bringing our school together. 

Gibbs: It took our whole school to really embrace our Cowboy culture and participate in our school spirit. We really worked hard this year to get more people involved and touch all the different groups that make up our campus. 

Coach Hulme: I ran the student sections at Ramona of Riverside (Rowdy Rams) and Indian Springs of San Bernardino (Coyote Crazies) so I am no newbie to spirit… I am just new to Chino. I don’t think the Chino peeps realized that when they hired a Water Polo coach this year, they were getting extra stuff to come along with it.  I became the voice of Cowboy Football this year too, so to see the stadium packed and the students getting crazy from the press box perspective was a different vibe from being down in the stands leading it on Friday Nights. The students at Chino are amazing!!! They have several section leaders that get the crowd pumped up like I used to do and like many other amazing Student Sections have around So Cal.  But this MILKCAN game was pretty exciting because it’s one community split by two High Schools and they sell out every year. It’s almost a two hour wait to get in and people are tailgating in the parking lot for a high school game. Even those that have roles are given special passes to the field and some are turned away. The whole city pretty much shuts down for this game. It’s pretty intense.

What is your most memorable game you have ever attended as a member of the student section?

Taylor: The Milkcan game is always a favorite and something I will never forget because everyone was fired up. 

Gibbs: The most memorable game that I have ever attended was the 2019 Milkcan against our rivalry Don Lugo. Although we lost, and the game was away, our spirit was impeccable and couldn’t be matched. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and went all out for this game. 

Coach Hulme: To be honest, I am very used to this type of spirit, but under the conditions I would have to say this Milkcan Game topped my list for High School. It was an away game for us, so I wasn’t in the booth and got to be all over the place to capture Cowboy Country at it’s finest.

Favorite theme?

Taylor: My favorite theme is “Blue Out” because it is our school colors, and it always makes me happy seeing our students filled with Cowboy Pride. 

Gibbs: My favorite theme that we have at our school for our games is our Pink Out theme. This is the game where everyone wears pink and brings awareness to the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. At the game we always recognize the survivors of Breast Cancer that attend our school.

Coach Hulme: Milkcan – But every Friday Night should be like Milkcan!

Favorite chant?

Taylor: My favorite Chant is “Chino – You Know!” 

Gibbs: One of my favorite chants is the “I Believe” chant. It starts off by me saying, “repeat after me…I”, and then the crowd yells, “I”, then I would say, “I believe”, and the crowd would repeat, “I believe”, then I’d say, “I believe that”, and the crowd responds the same, and then I finally scream, “I believe that we will win”, and the crowd keeps on cheering that for however long they wish. This chant really hypes up the crowd and raises their spirit about winning the game. 

Coach Hulme: “You wish you were a Cowboy“ gets the whole crowd swaying and when it’s said all together, it’s pretty loud and crazy! I know there are other ones too, but that one makes people take notice!

What’s your least favorite chant that you hear from the other side of the stadium/gym?

Taylor: My least favorite chant from the other side of the stadium is anything derogatory toward my school. 

Gibbs: My least favorite chant that I hear from the other side of the stadium is the chant that Don Lugo says at every rivalry game for every sport. It’s the Chino-K chant which is disrespectful to our school.

Coach Hulme: Anything negative from the other side… We totally get it.  We cheer, you cheer… our school is cool, your school is cool…  but once you hear some of the stuff come from other schools mouth… you wonder why cant we be positive and  celebrate everyone’s hard work?

Outside of you guys, is there one student section that you have seen or heard about where you think, “Man, that is a good student section?”

Taylor: A student section who is great is Bishop Amat Dawgpound, they have great spirit. 

Gibbs: Outside of Chino, the one student section that I have seen and thought was great was Bishop Amat. I have seen videos on social media of their school section and they looked amazing. They’re morale is there, the spirit is there, and they know how to be loud. I give them props for their student section because they know how to bring it. 

Coach Hulme: I have mad respect for a few out there… a few years ago when someone told me I should enter the Rowdy Rams into the Varsity Brands “Most Spirited School” National Championship, that’s when I started to take notice. Broken Arrow High School is on a whole other level. They are out of Oklahoma and their Youtube videos are insane!

 

I love Vista Murrieta’s BBC (Bronco Bleacher Creatures) because Jason Seipp works there.  I worked with him at Ramona High. We had some crazy ideas and he left Ramona and went to the BBC. They won the National Championship next year for Most Spirited!

 

Lastly, I have so much respect for Lisa Hedspeth and the Black Pack over at Villa Park High School. She was huge in giving me advice and help encourage us when I was running the Rowdies. Honestly, this whole spirit thing isn’t defined by your school lines but it takes multiple people all over to be able to help out and get things accomplished. A huge shout out to Manny Alvarez creating this platform in which we can all come together and show off our spirit. I know so many students, parents, and staff look forward to seeing all the excitement having this every week!!! Plus it allows other people to connect and share ideas!!! I’m just so excited that we get part of this week’s title for our Cowboy Country at Chino High School!!!