Cordell’s Blue Devil Band continues to make history, this time at the Oklahoma Bandmasters Association State Marching Band Contest, where they made it to OBA Finals for the first time in school history. This year’s marching season has been full of success as the band has received top ratings at many contests including the Blue & Gold Marching Classic in Holdenville, Hub City Marching Contest in Clinton, and the Elgin Owls Southwest Showdown in Elgin.
After the OBA contest, Band Director Aaron Edge said “I am SO. DANG. PROUD of this band!!! Went to the OBA state marching championship with some of the best 1A, 2A, and 3A bands in the state. We ended up getting the top visual score in class 1A. Then we got 2nd place IN THE STATE for class 1A!”
Edge continued, “But that’s not all! For the first time ever, we made it to finals, which means we had to be in the top 12 scores of the day between all 32 schools 1A - 3A. THEN, we finished solidly in the top 10, being in 9th place overall in finals. 8th place was the 1A state champion, and the point difference was… .05! 1/20th of 1 point was the difference! Talk about a nail biter! We also got the top 1A music score in finals, and tied for the 1A General Effect score. If that ain’t showin’ up, I don’t know what is!”
Edge fiinished by saying “I was so proud of the students’ energy and effort for this contest. Being a finalist band, a placing band, and a top 10 band, with some crazy good competing bands, was such a cool feeling. And to be honest… we don’t spend thousands of dollars on props and sets and costumes and show concept design and other neat things… they’re al l super cool, but we accomplished all of this with music and movement and solid execution. I’m proud of the growth, the dedication, the determination, and the discipline of this group. Proud beyond words. Next year… state champs!”