Falls City’s marching band will be heading to state competition for the first time in 16 years Monday in San Antonio at the Alamodome.

Going up against 16 schools in the class 1A division, Falls City will start their first performance during the first round at 10:09 a.m. If they advance to the final round, they’ll perform again sometime that evening.

Beaver Band Director Steven Wolf said the kids are ready to compete.

"They’re excited. I’ve been telling them all year, if you do your job, you can do it. So far, they’ve kept their end of the bargain… and now it’s going to get tough," he said. "I’m just going to have to put it on their shoulders. They’re going to have to make the decision to do their best and to do it perfect. If they decide to do that as an individual, then the whole band will come together and I think they can do well."

The last time Falls City’s band made it to the state level of competition was in 1991.

This year the Beaver Band advanced to the competition by earning a first division rating at regional competition Oct. 22 and third place at area competition Saturday, October 27.

The band will be performing the same halftime show fans have been seeing at football games this year.

"This is our same show, we just have to improve every time we do it to hope to compete at that level," Wolf said.

Area rival Shiner also has advanced to the state level in band competition and Wolf said Falls City’s upcoming home football game against the Shiner Comanches will be a good opportunity for fans to get a preview of what the competition will be like.

Advancing this far also brought a different accomplishment for Falls City band students. Wolf made a promise to the 76-member group during the first football game of the year: If the band makes it to state, he said, he’d shave his head.

Students took care of the honors during Monday’s band class.