Southern Regional Marching Band Snags Third Straight Atlantic Coast Title

At some point during last spring, Southern Regional Golden Rams Marching Band director Andrew Wright learned that the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Championship was scheduled for the end of the band’s annual fall break, rather than before it, as had been the case in recent years.

“I pulled in the juniors, this year’s seniors now, and said, ‘Hey, Atlantic Coast Championship is over the break, with the state championship competition on Sunday at the start of it and ACC the following Saturday, so we don’t have to go to ACC.’ And I basically wanted to know what they wanted to do,” Wright explained Nov. 9, two days after the Golden Rams captured their third straight Group 2 Open title in Hershey, Pa.

“As soon as I said it, their faces dropped and one of them said, ‘What do you mean?’ So when I said again that we didn’t have to do ACC. they all said, ‘Oh, no, Mr. Wright. We’re doing it.’ And so, we did it.”

The Southern marching band didn’t just do it. The Golden Rams dominated, scoring a massive 95 points with their program, “What We’re Chasing,” to take the top position, 3.2 points ahead of South Plainfield (91.8). It was Southern’s third straight Atlantic Coast crown and 10th as a program since it first won in 2003, the first year of its last three-peat, which culminated in 2005.

“It’s become an expectation, maybe not from the directors, but definitely within the student body, especially when we’ve won it before and after winning it twice in a row, that we needed to win this again,” said baritone saxophonist Riley Derion. “We wanted that three-peat, and we were chasing it with all our effort.”

Six days after swiping the TOB New Jersey championship at Barnegat High School, the Golden Rams took the field at Hersheypark Stadium and delivered their best performance of the season, even registering their highest percussion score in school history.

“We didn’t just chase after the goal. We wanted to win it,” said baritone and trombone player Courtney Silvey. “We want our name called last at the end of the day. We really strive for that level of excellence. And it was such a beautiful feeling to have all our work, time and effort rewarded. We were first for best music, best visual, best percussion, leading to best overall. And when they called our name, it was like an out-of-body experience for me! All we put into it paid off. It was awesome.”

Visually, Southern was scored 36.9, while the judges rewarded the Golden Rams with a 58.1 score for music. Both scores were higher than South Plainfield and Maryland’s Fort Hill High School, which finished third overall at 89.2. Wright’s crew scored 19.7 for its percussion performance as well, a full point above Deptford’s score.

In addition to Southern’s three-peat efforts (2024-26 and 2003-05), the Golden Rams snagged ACC titles in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2022. Six of those titles were under Wright’s direction.

“The common thread between the three senior classes that have been part of this stretch is the commitment and expectation to be a quality, competitive program,” Wright said. “The questions always come up at the beginning of the year. ‘What type of kind of band do you want to be? Do we do the props, the competitive aspect, and all that?’ And their answer has always been ‘Yes!’ We want this program to serve the students, and if they want to put in all that time and effort and do all that, then we, the directors, are going to do everything we can to support what they want to do.”

As one of the seniors, Derion now appreciates all the hard work and effort the entire team brings forth – from Wright to his assistant directors, from the students to the volunteers who help in other aspects.

“Everything that happened on Saturday was a culmination of teamwork, solo play and a lot of people working together to create a great show, and our performance showed how far we’ve come through the season,” Derion said. “We understand that the directors don’t want to put that kind of pressure on us, but we really wanted to go win it. We weren’t going out there to be second or third. It was amazing.”

At the end, the seniors were the first to receive the banner and associated trophies, officially ending another outstanding season of excellence. But Silvey said it was a huge victory for all involved.

“Whenever you’re chasing after something big, you need a support system. And there’s no better place than Southern,” she said. “The directors and everybody involved love the students, and it shows. And it really boosts morale, which helps with our performances. We couldn’t do this without the directors and everybody else who helps us be the best.”

Of course, Wright realizes it’s the students who have to execute all the planned details.

Besides Derion and Silvey, that list includes Logan Abbato, Avery and Andrew Broadley, Akani Burrell, Aidan Coleman, Sydney Costello, Gregory Current, Raghav Desani, Dean Donato, Charlotte Giezey, Lilyanna Heinrichs, Jonathan and Aidan Higgins, Abigail Juarez, Matthew Keppler, Ella Naylor, Henry Ortiz, Emma Parker, Logan Pata, Jemimah Paul, Laurel Peploski, Sebastian Perez, Olivia Pugliese, Regan and Cleona Quinn, Nick Reardon, Debbie Reyes-Casanova, Kaitlyn Roblin, Sarah Rogers. Isabella Rowton, Emily Schieman, Jackson Seifert, Alex Sevcenko, Jordan Smith, Olivia Stabile, Kaeley Teymant, Miles Vandenberge, Orlando Vega, Christian Villegas-Renales, and Evangeline and Makenzie Young.

“They care if they win, and I see it,” Wright said. “The consistency we saw during the past three weeks of rehearsal has been amazing, and that’s why we did so well on Saturday. The effort that they’ve been putting in on the rehearsal field, when nobody else was around to clap and cheer except the directors, is why they did so well. They expected excellence from themselves, and that’s what set the stage for Saturday.”