Skyline High School's Homecoming dance falls on Saturday, Oct. 3, weeks later than students expected.

The date is tied to the football schedule. Skyline's Homecoming game is Friday, Oct. 2, a Region 10 matchup against East High School at home. Because the dance follows the game by one night, a late-season home date meant a late Homecoming.

"We have no control over when Homecoming falls, it all settles in with whatever the football schedule lands on," student government adviser Morgan Pedersen told The Skyline Horizon, the school's student newspaper.

The shift created a domino effect. Monster Mash, another popular Skyline dance usually held in early October, has been pushed to Saturday, Oct. 31.

That's Halloween night.

Student Activities Board president Nathaniel Bennion, who oversees Homecoming planning, said the later date gives students more time to decide whom to ask and to coordinate plans with friends. He acknowledged Monster Mash was the one scheduling casualty, saying it had been moved to what he called "a less fortunate date" to keep the two dances from overlapping.

Not everyone sees an upside. Senior Sady Jonart, attending her final Skyline Homecoming, said she and her friends dislike how the compressed calendar squeezes both events together. She said she believes fewer students will attend Monster Mash because they won't have enough time to plan. With Homecoming arriving so late, Jonart said, students may already have Monster Mash dates and plans lined up before the first dance even happens.

Jonart said mid-to-late September would be the ideal window. That timing, she said, gives students enough time to settle back into school and organize with friends.

Pedersen pointed to one perk of the October date: cooler weather that keeps day activities comfortable instead of battling 90-degree heat.

The Eagles enter the Homecoming game at 4-3 overall and 3-0 in 4A Region 10, good for first place, according to MaxPreps. We previewed the Oct. 2 matchup against East on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

After the Homecoming game, Skyline travels to Highland on Thursday, Oct. 8, then closes the regular season at home against Murray on Wednesday, Oct. 14.