Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School will play its annual Battle of Bethesda football game against Walt Whitman on Thursday, Oct. 29, one day earlier than scheduled. The switch follows a post-game fight between students from the two schools after last year's game at Whitman.

The change, first reported by The Tattler, the school's student newspaper, has drawn pushback from parents, coaches and players who say the move punishes student-athletes and disrupts senior night plans with no public explanation of who made the call.

B-CC athletic director Mike Krawczel acknowledged that alternatives were weighed before the Thursday date was locked in. "There were certainly other solutions. This wasn't the only one," Krawczel told The Tattler. He suggested future rivalry games might move to Saturdays.

The Oct. 29 game would be B-CC's fifth Thursday night kickoff this season, tying Rockville for the most in Montgomery County, according to The Tattler. The Barons enter the week at 3-1 overall and 2-0 in region play, riding a three-game winning streak, according to MaxPreps.

B-CC Sports Boosters president Rex Garcia-Hidalgo objected to the Thursday scheduling in an email to principal Dr. La Faye Howard. Garcia-Hidalgo wrote that many student-athletes would not get home before 10 p.m. and would still be expected in class at 7:45 the next morning with little time for homework or physical recovery.

The rescheduling also forced senior nights for football, cheer, poms, pep band and drumline off the Whitman game and onto Friday, Oct. 2, the final Friday home game of the season. Some seniors have conflicts that will keep them from attending the new date. Varsity cheer coach Madison Petro emailed B-CC administration about a senior captain who cannot make the rescheduled game after planning around the original date.

Head coach Matt Schwartzback described one player whose relatives are being released from incarceration on the original Friday date and will miss their first chance to watch him play because of the Thursday switch.

Neither principal has publicly explained who initiated the change. B-CC students believe Whitman principal Gregory Miller proposed it. Whitman students have been told Dr. Howard made the request and that Whitman is being scapegoated. The Tattler reported that Dr. Howard did not respond to its inquiry. Krawczel said both principals wanted the change and wanted to prioritize safety.

B-CC has already adopted several security measures for rivalry games, including moving kickoffs up an hour, splitting the student section known as "the Guck" in half and staggering fan departures. Last year's Battle of Bethesda was also played on a Thursday.

Students made their frustration heard at the Sept. 25 homecoming game. The chant: "Friday football."

B-CC hosts Paint Branch on Friday, Oct. 2, at 6:30 p.m. The Barons then travel to Walter Johnson on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. before the rescheduled Battle of Bethesda at home Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m.