Following previous field shows featuring the music of Journey and Cirque du Soleil’s Ka, South’s 2012 Screaming Eagle Marching Band unveiled this year’s field show Jersey Boys: Music from the Broadway Musical at the first football game of the season at Brick Township High School on September 15^th.  Featuring the hits of the popular 60s quintet Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, such as “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Walk Like a Man,” the band has gained more supporters for their identifiable music, contrasting with the 2011 field show Cirque du Soleil: KA. Along with multiple football games that have occurred since then, the SEMB has become significantly more competitive this season, and has gained recognition for their improvements over the past three and a half months. Under the direction of Band Director Michael Raguseo, and recently-staffed Assistant Band Director Nicholas Jupinka and Color Guard Instructor Siobhan Smith, the SEMB has become a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of fellow competitive New Jersey Division IV-A marching bands.

The Screaming Eagles came out swinging at their first competition at Brick Memorial High School on September 22^nd. By placing second in their division, they effectively terminated their last-place streak while has burdened the band for the past two years. However, the SEMB was able to top their second place one week later at the Toms River High School East Competition by winning first place in their division—defeating all of their competition, including the bands from Freehold High School, Toms River High School North, and Howell Township High School.

Since the Toms River High School East Competition, the Screaming Eagles have worked to defend their title at other competitions during the subsequent two weeks, at Jackson Memorial High School, and also returning to Brick Township High School to compete on October 13^th. Throughout the Screaming Eagle Marching Band’s month-long competitive time-span, the band’s hard work and average eighteen hours a week of combined practice and performances has earned them a slew of various awards and recognitions for Jersey Boys. These awards are including but not limited to Best Music, Best General Effect, Best Color Guard, and Best Percussion. In an incredibly short interview with Band Director Mr. Raguseo, he claimed that he “…is satisfied with how well the band’s doing. We’re doing much better than last year, however there’s always room for improvement.”

Although the Screaming Eagles have already competed four times in the past month, their work is not nearly close to being done just yet. The SEMB is taking a break from competing the weekend of October 20^th but are getting back into the swing of things at the East Brunswick Competition next Saturday October 27^th where they will compete against the likes of Westfield High School, Union High School, and Somerset High School in order to crack the top ten of New Jersey’s Division IV-A marching bands. If the Screaming Eagles do crack the top ten, then they will move on to their final competition of the 2012 season at Rutgers University in New Brunswick on Sunday, November 4^th—the USBands New Jersey Division 4A State Championships, where 17 bands in South’s division are currently registered to compete.