A football team is nothing without its fanbase. Imagine returning a kickoff to the house, or catching a Hail Mary just as time expires just to look up and hear … nothing. No one screaming like there’s no tomorrow, no one aggressively telling the other team to go home, nothing. Luckily for the Warriors, this isn’t something they have to worry about. The team’s rowdy student section, dubbed the Warrzone, is as boisterous and intense as any student section in high school football. From kickoff to the final ticks on the clock, you can count on non-stop energy from the students of North Atlanta.

Every week brings a new look for the Warrzone’s students, whether the theme is white out, togas, beach luau, or red, white and blue American patriotism. Student screams, chants, and often-antagonistic signs have a way of getting into the opponent’s heads, whether it’s a mindless arm-waving yell-session led by seniors or a chant directed at the other team. In some regards, the Warrzone acts as the team’s “12th man” on the football field.  When a penalty flag is thrown on the Dubs’ opponents, chants of “You-can’t-do-that!” ring throughout the stadium. If the referees make a call that doesn’t favor North Atlanta, the Warrzone belts out a good old “That-was-BS’, except they don’t say BS. (We can’t write it: This is a family newspaper.) When the Dubs took a 20 to 0 lead over Grady in Week 1, the Warrzone made sure the Knights took note by offering a colorful chant that didn’t paint rival Grady in the best light.

Take one sweeping glance through the section, and you’ll always spot pictures being taken, to be posted on Instagram after the game. Warriors games are sure to flood your feed on Friday nights. “We’re here to get kids motivated about their school,” said senior Addie Derrick, a leader of the School Spirit Club, which establishes student section themes for football games. “To those who say there’s no school spirit at North Atlanta, I know they’re wrong. And if you don’t believe it, come to a game to witness the Warrzone.”

Although the student section seems to be a unified group of students, there is an internal struggle that plagues the Warrzone. Some underclassmen insist on sitting close to the action and the plenty irritated upperclassmen aren’t having it. Most frosh and sophs are fine with moving back, but the ones that don’t aren’t taken too kindly by the seniors. “It’s disrespectful because it’s our last year here and we should be able to sit in the front,” said senior Mary Wallace Underwood. “They have plenty of time left here and they should be able to wait their turn.”

One other little problem with a massive student section is that it can get pretty hot there. Couple waves of sweaty teenagers with the August and September heat and you’ve got a pretty toasty atmosphere. But fear not, because you can wait in the long line at the concession stand to buy an uber-expensive bottle of water to beat the heat.

The Warrzone experience is one no Dubs fan should miss out on. The energetic atmosphere is always buzzing on game day, with upper and lower classmen enjoying the game together, all along with the occasional seating spats. On football Friday nights, no one lights up the Warriors like the Warrzone.