School competes for NFL award by pumping up their annual Chiefs rally

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas - If you were driving past Holy Cross Catholic School in Overland Park Monday morning, you can be forgiven for thinking you were at Arrowhead Stadium right before the game.

The atmosphere was as intense as anything at Arrowhead, but it was a local Catholic school.

Click on the attached video to watch the excitement and support of the school

"We always have a Chiefs day at the beginning of the season, but this year with Monday night football and the ‘back to football’ contest, we decided to take it to a whole new level," Mary Jo Gates, principal of Holy Cross said.

And that they did. They had cheerleaders, a band, and a staffer portraying the head coach, plus a student appearing as quarterback Matt Cassel.

They even had Warpaint, or at least a horse that looked like it.

They're sincere Chiefs fans, but they'd also like to win the NFL's Back to Football contest. It would mean a $10,000 dollar health and wellness grant that they could use to add equipment to the preschool playground and buy Wii -fit video games for inside days in gym class. If enthusiasm's the qualification, they seem like a shoo-in.

Music and band teacher Melissa Cain was leading the noise.

"I'm a natural born cheerleader so I just can't help myself but I was just getting the kids pumped up because we want to win, obviously," she said.

They are confident at Holy Cross.

"Oh I think we're going to win the ten grand. I'm very pumped" Gates said.

The NFL will pick 34 schools based on essays and photos submitted. The schools will each win the $10,000 dollar grant plus a visit from an NFL player.