All across the United States, sports fans gather around their televisions to watch one popular sport: football. The sport started in 1869 when two colleges played against each other in a rudimentary game, quickly evolving into a popular activity across the nation. American football is played on a professional, collegiate, and high school level. However, there are very few opportunities for females to play in the contact-intensive sport. Powderpuff gives girls the chance to play football against each other while having a competitive atmosphere.
Despite being delayed two weeks after the planned date, the annual powderpuff game organized by Student Council was finally played on Oct. 16th on the football field. Teams are split between grade levels and played in a seven-on-seven flag football style. The winning Senior team consisted of Dorothy Aldrich, Makenna Buffington, Kylah Conrad, Jozi Cook, Kat Ebling, Megan Foltz, Addison Geer, Delaney Greene, Faith Livelsberger, Emmaly Plank, Gracyn Shutt, and Emalee Turnbaugh.
The first game kicked off a little before seven o’clock with the Juniors taking on the Sophomores. Despite some good drives, the Sophomore team brutally took over the game and beat the Juniors with a score of 34-0. Coach Riley Babski said “We knew the Juniors were going to win, so we told them just to go out and have fun.”
The second game had the Freshman taking on the previous champions, the Seniors, right after the first game. The freshmen had a few good drives, but two big plays gave the Senior team victory with a score of 14-0.
Finally, in the last game, the Seniors hosted the Sophomores in the championship game. The game was hard fought, with each team scoring before the end of the first half. In the end, the Seniors took the victory with a score of 12-6. Shutt, referring to the penalty that got called against her, said, “The stiff arm should’ve counted.”
Student council advisor Mr. Bower thought the event went smoothly, but had some concerns about participation.
“If we have more problems getting girls to join Powderpuff in the future, the look of the game could change. There is a chance there will only be one game played next year, the underclassmen and upperclassmen.”
