Homecoming or Iowa football? Regina must decide

Regina High School is considering calling an audible on its homecoming dance.

The Catholic school's dance is scheduled for the night of Saturday, Oct. 2. Problem is, there's a 7:05 p.m. kickoff for the big Penn State versus Iowa game at Kinnick Stadium that day.

Homecoming may be a signature event for high school students, but this is Iowa City, night games at Kinnick are rare and both teams enter the season ranked in national polls.

“We've already had a lot of people express concerns that it (the dance) is during an evening game and this will be a big game for the Hawkeyes,” Principal David Krummel said.

Ideas kicked around in a meeting last week between school officials, student council members and parents included moving all homecoming activities back one week or moving the dance to Friday evening.

Both have their pros and cons, Krummel said, adding that rescheduling all of homecoming would be more difficult because there's a series of events throughout the week.

He said the school will ultimately do what students want. A meeting with the student council will occur the first day of school, Aug. 19.

There's a small window for homecoming dates. There needs to be a home football game, and Krummel said they shoot for late September or early October.

The school set Oct. 2 as the date for the homecoming dance last spring, before it was announced that Penn State would play Iowa at night. (Interestingly, that will be Iowa's homecoming game.)

Regina has a connection to the last time Penn State played at Kinnick. Regina alum Daniel Murray kicked a game-winning field goal in the closing seconds of the Hawkeyes 2008 upset win against the Nittany Lions.

City High and West High have their homecoming dances on Sept. 25. Iowa plays Ball State at home that day. A time has not been set, but it will not be a night game.