The Panorama Panthers will go head-to-head with the Mount Ayr Raiders at Friday’s homecoming game, but the football teams aren’t the only ones holding the pigskin this week.

The Panorama Cross Country team continues their recent homecoming tradition of a “Rally Run,” in which the teammates each run several mile increments carrying the game ball from the opposing football team’s school back to the Panorama field. Senior runner Lydia Lindstrom comments on this week’s journey, “This year we have to run from Mount Ayr which is very far away, 80 miles our entire team has to run separately so it’s kind of like a relay and we actually had to start the Saturday before so we would get it all in. So, on Friday they’ll be running and that’s a cool tradition that we’ve started.”

The rally run will end with a presentation of the game ball midfield at 6:30 p.m. Friday before the varsity game at 7 p.m. Coach Greg Thompson says the word rally is used because of the team’s fundraising efforts collecting donations for a local organization. This year’s proceeds will go to the Tori’s Angels Foundation and to fund their Colorado team camp.