ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — History was made on Friday night.
With a score of 96.825, the Bluecoats tied the decade-old all-time record at J. Birney Crum Stadium, matching the 2014 Blue Devils’ mark on the dot. It also tops their own 2025 effort of 96.475, the previous second-highest score in event history.
Friday night’s historic result keeps the Canton, Ohio corps’ undefeated 2026 run alive, pushing their streak to 14 consecutive victories heading into the home stretch of the DCI Summer Tour.
For the ‘Coats, keeping their eyes strictly on the work is what matters most with the DCI World Championships right around the corner.
“Consistency. That’s it,” Bluecoats drum major Antonio Gamez said. “That’s really the name of the game. We can be as fun and exciting as we can every single night, but if we’re not consistent at it, then there’s no way we’re making it to the end. And this group is making it to the end, always.”
WORLD CLASS
1. Bluecoats ≫ 96.825
2. Blue Devils ≫ 95.450
3. Blue Stars ≫ 92.025
On the scoresheets, Bluecoats capped off night one of the annual two-day event presented by Yokohama Tire by sweeping all captions to command a 1.375 point lead. Only a home-state show in Akron, Ohio remains on their schedule before heading to Indianapolis for next weekend’s DCI World Championships.
The Blue Devils kept up their late-season momentum, taking second place with a score of 95.450. The margin behind the Bluecoats remains on par with the competitive gap between the two corps this summer, which has hovered between 0.8 and 2.45 points.
Within each of the three overall captions — General Effect, Visual and Music — the Blue Devils fell no more than a little over half a point behind, highlighted by their overall Visual score which stayed within three and a half tenths. They’re maintaining impressive numbers despite a number of key late-season updates to their production that corps members have been rehearsing in recent days.
“We had a lot of changes this week, especially in our closer and a lot of drill changes to our ballad, and our corps executed them very well,” Blue Devils drum major Gabriel Jarata said. “This performance tonight was an amazing show with an aggressive horn line and a guard ready to show off their skills.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Stars continued to outpace their 2025 trajectory, eclipsing the 90-point milestone nearly a full week earlier than last summer. Their 92.025 in Allentown was driven by strong General Effect and Visual numbers.
4. Colts ≫ 88.500
5. Troopers ≫ 87.500
6. Spirit of Atlanta ≫ 86.025
7. Blue Knights ≫ 85.863
The Colts managed to maintain their late-season lead over the Troopers. After trailing the Wyoming corps by more than two points in early July, Iowa’s corps made its move at the DCI Southwestern Championship in San Antonio on July 18 and hasn’t looked back. Though the Troopers managed to narrow the gap by a half-point last Sunday in North Carolina, and another half-point tonight in Allentown, the Colts held strong behind crucial half-point-plus advantages in Music Analysis and Percussion.
Perhaps the night’s biggest surge came from Spirit of Atlanta, who vaulted into the top six of Friday’s lineup with an 86.025. Ever since finishing 14th in San Antonio — within tenths of a point of the Madison Scouts and Pacific Crest — Spirit has been chasing a Top 12 finalist spot in near isolation, taking a completely different tour path from those aforementioned competitors.
Unfazed by the distance, Spirit made a statement in Allentown, relying on advantages in Color Guard, Visual Analysis, Brass and Percussion to edge ahead of the Denver corps for the first time since 2024.
Blue Knights kept things extremely close, however, with advantages of their own in General Effect, Visual Proficiency and Music Analysis, to finish just a tenth and a half behind Spirit in the final tally.
8. Music City ≫ 81.475
9. Genesis ≫ 76.275
Music City kept its momentum rolling in 8th place, posting a score of 81.475. After crossing the 80-point threshold for the first time on Tuesday in Myrtle Beach, the Nashville corps added a little over a tenth of a point to their mid-week mark from Salem, Virginia.
Genesis, returning to the field after a nearly week-long break since competing last Saturday in DeKalb, Illinois, rounded out Friday’s World Class lineup. The corps turned in its highest score of the season to date at 76.275.
ALL-AGE CLASS
1. Reading Buccaneers ≫ 92.825
2. Hawthorne Caballeros ≫ 91.175
3. Bushwackers ≫ 88.650
A selection of DCI’s All-Age corps returned to the DCI Eastern Classic stage on Friday night for the first time since 2023. The Reading Buccaneers continued to hold a lead on the field finishing with a score of 92.825 and sweeping all captions.
The Hawthorne Caballeros held firm in second place behind the defending All-Age Champions, trailing by 1.65 points. Having pulled within eight-tenths of the Buccaneers back on July 11 in Clifton, New Jersey, the Cabs will look to close that gap heading into next weekend’s All-Age World Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Rounding out the top three, the Bushwackers marched out of Allentown with a score of 88.650. The Princeton, New Jersey corps looked especially strong in the Color Guard caption, just a tenth off the Buccaneers and two tenths ahead of the Caballeros.
The next group of World Class corps will hit the field at J. Birney Crum Stadium on Saturday, August 1, stepping off at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are still available and the event can also be streamed live via FloMarching.
