On Wednesday, October 25, West High held its annual Powderpuff game, one of the biggest highlights of the year, where many students from all over the school come to watch. For those who don’t know, Powderpuff is a flag football game where all the girls play on the field while all the guys cheer from the sideline. The two teams are split up into junior and senior girls, each equipped with four junior and senior boys who coach. It’s a fun sight to see, and you don’t even have to be an athlete to play.

This year it turned out to be a game for the ages, going all the way into overtime. Momentum kept switching sides as each team fought to take control. Each side played aggressively and came out fighting. Everyone did well. The coaches had success with their playbook, and the players had success on the field. Between the two teams, it was an intense, high scoring game.

From start to finish, the game was exciting. The seniors held the lead late in the second half and only needed one more stop to end the game. However, the juniors had other plans. With six seconds left on the clock and only time for one last play, Josie Voss passed the ball on a reverse and helped her team cap off a 60-yard score. With the game tied 14-14 with no seconds left on the clock, there was no better way to declare a winner than in a sudden death overtime.

The juniors started off with the ball and quickly inched closer and closer to the goal. With a first down and pressure inside the senior ten yard line, an upset was within arm’s reach. But just as the juniors had come up big just moments earlier, it was now the seniors’ turn. For four consecutive plays, the senior girls played magnificent defense. They held the juniors back and prevented them from scoring. Now they had an opportunity to win. With last year’s Powderpuff loss still fresh in her mind (from when she was a junior), senior quarterback Serena Riley was eager to re-write the history books. With the whole crowd patiently watching and the defense breathing down her neck, Serena knew that she had to execute. A few plays later, that is exactly what happened, with the final score reading “20-14”. The senior girls earned redemption from the year before in which they lost as juniors, a well-deserved victory was exactly what they needed. As for the juniors and their coaches, they put up a fight all night, and have nothing to be ashamed of. They held their own against their older rivals, and nearly won in the end. But until next year, the bragging rights belong to the seniors.

After the game junior Josie Voss was asked how she felt about the outcome, she said, “I feel pretty good because we worked really hard and we came back with only a few seconds left and I was really proud about how well we did,”. Voss gave advice and said, “Take practice seriously and make sure that you listen to your coaches so that you can play and have fun.” Senior coach James Cannon was also asked about the outcome. “I felt good, knowing that we executed and came out with the win. We made sure that our girls knew what they needed to do and made sure they knew how to execute the plays in order to win.” When asked about what makes Powderpuff different than actual football (other than the flags), James responded “The coaches are your players so we get to see what our own coaches get to go through every game.”

In the end, the game isn’t about who wins or loses, it’s about everyone coming together to show their school spirit. If you have friends that were in it, or you know someone that went to the game ,know every year students walk away having a blast. Overall, Powderpuff was a huge success and I can’t wait for more people to experience it.