Football season — the best time of the year. The evenings start getting cooler, and nothing beats the good times had sitting with friends in the stands and watching the Panthers win. While the game is the main course, the tailgate tradition is the appetizer. Tailgating is one of the most important elements of any pre-game gathering.

“We have food and drinks, so everyone gets to eat. Then we have some music playing and everyone just hangs out and talks, paints up and plays some cornhole,” head of the Starr’s Mill tailgate senior Jackson O’Neal said.

The Starr’s Mill tailgate meets before every home game. Students who sign up and pay their dues come to the tailgate to get hyped up before the game. The tailgate is also the place where seniors “paint up” before the game, a Starr’s Mill tradition. A few minutes before the game, the entirety of the tailgate packs up and walks down to the student section in the stadium to see the Starr’s Mill Panthers in action.

No tailgate party is complete without the perfect playlist. “Music does play an important role in the tailgate because the music can hype everyone up and get people excited,” O’Neal said. Music has the ability to set the mood at any tailgate. The Starr’s Mill tailgate usually “[has] rap music playing, all clean, of course,” O’Neal said. However, on occasion country is included to mix things up.

This Friday night the tailgate meets up not only for the second home game of 2017 but also for the Starr’s Mill Homecoming game against Chapel Hill. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

Click here for the official Starr’s Mill game day playlist.