DANVILLE -- On the field, it was a Friday night football battle as Danville Area took on Wyalusing Valley, but off the field, it was a different story. Two communities came together for a Danville Area High School senior with cancer.
"Mackenzie is a great student, great boisterous personality. She can be sarcastic but she's fun. She's great to joke with. She's just awesome. She's my role model,” said Danville Area High School teacher Sonia Crane.
Mackenzie Riley is 17 and is battling bone cancer for the third time. This time, her teachers say, it is terminal.
Danville Area school officials moved homecoming up a few weeks so Riley could attend, but despite the change, she was too sick to leave her hospital bed.
Glow bracelets, necklaces, cups, and more were sold for Mackenzie at the homecoming game to light up the night in her honor. Proceeds will go to the Riley family.
"It's really important to us because of who she is. She's a great kid and her brother was on the team last year and has been. So we've gotten really close with the family and we just want to reach out and help her out as much as we possibly can,” said Krissy Brouse, with the Danville Area Football Boosters.
There were special t-shirts. People wore gold for her too. Gold is the color for childhood cancer awareness. The football players had ribbons on their helmets for Mackenzie, as well.
"My mom had cancer, too, so I think it's a really good support just to have friends and family there. It really helps out so I want to do everything I can to just support it,” said Brianna Emery of Danville, who knows Mackenzie and wore a gold shirt in her honor.
Then came a moment that brought many to tears. At halftime, Mackenzie Riley was named homecoming queen. Her best friend Sara Klena accepted in her honor.
"I think it's great. I think it's a great thing for her because it's not like she'll get many things equivalent to that. She'll miss a lot of great things like it and it's just a really great thing,” said Klena.
“She has touched us a lot and to see how many students and faculty and staff and administration and then the whole community, it's just really incredible,” said Danville Area Teacher Emily Morgan.