To the likely relief of the Comet community, the Saturday morning meeting between North Stanly High School and Carson was simply another routine football game.

The few boos that were leveled were directed at the opposing team and the referees.

National and even international attention has descended upon the school over the last week after the North Carolina High School Athletic Association placed the school’s cheerleaders on probation over their posing with a Trump 2020 flag during an Aug. 30 game.

The game was scheduled for Friday night but was canceled due to security concerns.

But all of the drama of the last week faded away as a sense of normalcy seemed to pervade the stadium.

The people waving Trump flags in support of the cheerleaders during a rally across from the school Friday night were not around and the only banner on display was the blue-and-red one that the football team ran through before the game.

Though the stadium wasn’t as full as it likely would have been on a typical Friday night, the crowd was in good spirits,  children were running around and people were smiling, laughing and cheering on the team.

The cheerleaders were given a huge round of applause before the game. They cheered for the team and led the crowd in a multitude of different chants, just like usual.

The positive atmosphere seemed to impact the players as they were making plays all over the field. At halftime, the team held a commanding 28-0 lead and were well on their way to their first win of the season.

The past week “distracted from our core purpose and that is to educate kids,” Superintendent Dr. Jeff James said. He hopes things can go back to normal.

Sheriff Jeff Crisco said 10 deputies were at the game and between 30-35 deputies from Cabarrus County would have been at the game Friday night.

Talking about the affect the blowout victory would have for the Comet community, Crisco said “it’s definitely good for them.”