To kick off the new school year, Sage Creek’s annual “Senior Assassins” made its long-awaited return.  Senior Assassins is an optional game exclusively for the senior class.

The goal of the game is to “eliminate” targets by spraying them with water. If a team of two fails to “assassinate,” or “eliminate,” a target in the amount of time given, they are disqualified. The full rules can be found on the official website. The site also clarifies that the school is in no way affiliated with the game. It it entirely student-run.

To sign up, seniors picked a partner of their choice and payed $5 to the game’s coordinators, Joey Babcock and Paige Loeffler. Then, the fees were entered into a pot which the final team will win once the game ends. Once the partners were picked, a randomized bot assigned and emailed them their targets.

After each team received their targets, they geared up on water guns and floaties, which serve as protection against their assassins. Participants must be wearing floaties at all times when off school campus to be protected from the opposing team.

The game began on Sept. 20th, and controversy had already struck within the first elimination.

In that attack, senior Ethan Shoemaker claimed to have shot his target (with video proof), senior Max Davis, who argued that he had goggles on his ankles during the attack. Babcock called for the senior class to vote for the legality of the “kill,” and despite the googles being hard to see, the final ruling allowed Davis to remain in the game.

Following these events, Babcock declared that goggles would no longer qualify as protection after September 30th, to avoid further controversy.

Until a winner is decided, students will attempt to eliminate their targets and avoid being eliminated.

Editor’s Note: The original version of this article did not clarify that Senior Assassins is entirely student-run and not affiliated with Sage Creek High School. We regret the error.