SouthFlorida.com | Teen Link South Florida

After a long week of homework, teachers and extracurricular activities, only one thing can get students to come back to school on a Friday night: the football game.

Teens come out by the hundreds, dressed in colorful spirit outfits and smeared with body paint, to cheer their team to another victory.

"I love the atmosphere of every game," Cypress Bay High senior Daniel Mrdjenovich said. "High school wouldn't be the same without those memories."

Among the chanting cheerleaders and screaming fans, many students find that footballs games are an opportunity to bond with their peers.

"Football games really unite students and make you feel like you're part of a bigger community," Mrdjenovich said. "They're so much more fun than just another Friday night at the movies."

Scarla Porsenna of Miramar High had another reason.

"It's just the engery of it. One minute you're sad 'cause you think your team is going to lose. Then everything turns around and you're winning. It's the suspense of it all," the sophomore said.

Stoneman Douglas senior Shelby Listokin is also a fan of high school football.

"Football games are a good way to see my friends and support the school at the same time," Listokin said. "I have friends on the team, so I go and support them, too."

Erin Garrison, a senior at Piper High, likes being able to root on friends, but she also likes "being able to show school spirit."

Joe Fernandez, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas, showed his spirit on ESPN last week during the televised St. Thomas vs. Byrnes (S.C.) football game.

"The place was electric that night," he said. "I remember someone turning toward me and saying, 'You're going up, bro!' The next thing I knew, I was surfing the crowd."

His ride lasted about 30 seconds.

"When you're crowd surfing, you feel like you're on top of the world; all eyes are on you," Fernandez said. "It's one of the greatest feelings I've ever experienced."

Teens show spirit not only with crowd surfing.

At West Broward High, "football games are lots of fun to go to because we get to show off our spirit for our school and football team by going all out with paint and banners representing our school's colors as a whole united school," senior Brittany Perez said.

Being able to cheer adds to the atmosphere.

"I enjoy being the really obnoxiously loud fan that annoys the other team," South Plantation senior Anthony Karpinski said.

For football players, the support of the crowd adds to the thrill of the game.

"Seeing friends in the crowd helps a lot, because when you're out there playing, it pumps you up and gets you really excited," Stoneman Douglas senior and varsity football offensive lineman Jared Goldstein said. "It's good to see people support what we're doing and all our hard work. They see the hard work paying off."

Teenlink correspondents James Carras, Samuel Greene, Jodi-Ann Lewis, Dinesh McCoy, Jessica Niestzche and Alyssa Ostroff contributed to this report.