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There are many things seniors look forward to that are considered a “rite of passage.” Senior Sunrise, Senior Assassin, Senior Skip Day, Senior Sunset – these are all traditions eagerly awaited by most underclassmen. This year, the class of 2026 is adding a new tradition to that list: Black Hole Overalls.
These striped, blue-and-white overalls made their first appearance in Papio South’s student section during the Titan-Monarch football game on Aug. 29. Traditionally, the theme of this rivalry game has been blackout, with seniors standing out by being decked out in all white. This year’s seniors continued the white-out, but they added their own twist: the striped overalls.
The class’s coordinated effort created an eye-catching scene, but it was senior varsity cheerleader Hayden Allrich who got the ball rolling.
“I saw Skutt [Catholic] had overalls, and Creighton Prep and stuff, and was like, ‘Those are so cute!’ and I noticed all their students wore them, so I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be a great idea if just the seniors from our school wore them?’” Allrich said.
Then she got to work. She discovered the Titans’ soon-to-be-signature overalls at Scheels, priced at nearly $65. Next, she spread the word, texting many fellow seniors, including the Black Hole Leaders: Tyler Andringa, Grayson Wallace and Jackson Willer.
By the time the Titan-Monarch game rolled around – where the Titans rolled the Monarchs, 41-14 – the Black Hole overalls marked the start of a new tradition at Papio South. From the student section bleachers, the overalls stood out pleasingly; however, getting everyone on board with spending $65 on overalls was not as seamless.
After taxes and possibly delivery fees, the final price for the overalls came out to be $70-$80. Not everyone was willing to pay that price for their own pair, but Black Hole leader Andringa said, “It’s our senior year, everyone else is doing it. It’ll look cool. We can leave our mark on the school.”
Wallace, another Black Hole leader, agreed: “The price definitely made it a little harder, but a lot of people were in on it. Everybody thought it’d be worth it. We definitely get a lot of use out of them.”
The seniors won’t just wear them to football games. They’ve been wearing them to volleyball, and plan on wearing them to future sporting events such as basketball. But what if the overalls don’t match with the theme of the game? Black Hole leader Willer said, “I’m gonna get my money’s worth, so I don’t really care too much if it doesn’t match the theme. I’m going to wear it. I think they’re super cool to wear, no matter what.”
The 2026 seniors want this tradition to live on. “I’m like almost positive it’s gonna become a tradition,” Allrich said. “It’s like when you see the seniors doing something and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to be a senior and do these things!’ I think people will be more than willing to wear the overalls.”
The current seniors are looking forward to seeing the future classes get their chance to wear the overalls; but they made it clear that this tradition is exclusive to seniors only.
“It’s a cool thing just because it’s seniors, and if you keep it like, [to] that specific group, then you have something to look forward to. I think it makes it more impactful if it’s just for seniors wearing overalls,” Andringa explained.
Their guide for making sure their tradition lives on – and to ensure the other classes will get to experience this tradition – is simple. “The plan is, all of the seniors are either going to sell their overalls [to the juniors], or we just hand them down to the juniors,” Wallace said.
The new Black Hole Overalls tradition starts with the senior class of 2026, but it doesn’t end there. Wallace said, “I think it’s a symbol of unifying, like as a senior class, and coming together for the last year of high school. It’s a cool tradition that other [future] classes can take part in too, and they can get unified as well.”
