Ali Parkhurst

Senior Sam Elliott runs after junior Jenaya Shaw in attempt to pull her flag as Shaw makes her way to the junior endzone.

On Sunday Sept. 10, the Wahawks held their annual powderpuff football game at Memorial Stadium.

Despite the temperature reaching the low 70 and rain, the two teams played their hearts out for the Powderpuff Champion title. 

The senior team coached by Jacob Muller, Keegan Nystrom, Drew Hundley and Cayden Kutz held nine senior girls. Nystrom describes his coaching experience to be challenging in comparison to being on the field, “It was difficult to be a coach to get everyone on the same page and as a player of the game it was a little different.”  He follows up by adding that the hard work paid off in the end when the seniors won the game. 

Each shirt worn by a senior held the IGHSAU logo, “The design on our shirts was made because of our confidence in winning this year,” says Charlotte Gettman, a senior on the Powderpuff team. The seniors chose the name ‘Deep Threat’ for their team, “This signifies that we have a good lineup at the WR position. We are fast, shifty, agile receivers who can burn the defense for long play and we used our speed to win,” Gettman said. 

The junior team coached by Dalten Aldrich, Nate Kline, Jayden Pham hosted nine junior girls. Kline shares how different the coaching experience was compared to his usual routine of playing on the field, “They didn’t know very much about football, and with our limited time, we had to create plays and coach them while they still didn’t understand every part of the game and what was going on.” 

Kline notes that the coaches for the juniors focused on the minimum knowledge needed to play football rather than the little details they are used to working on. “Coaching the game reminded me that I need to have a deeper understanding of what I’m doing in order to play at my best,” he says.

Junior Sydnie Wass shares that her team, the ‘Pink Demons,’ spent a lot of time together as they worked up to the big game. “We practiced and did team bonding. We also wore wristbands with our plays to be a little more organized,” she says. 

In recent years, the traditional powderpuff football game has attracted numerous groups of students. Last year, the powderpuff event hosted five teams of seniors and juniors whereas only two teams came out this year. “I feel like for a lot of our homecoming stuff we’re having less involvement” says Amanda Mast, a Student Senate Advisor. Mast questions if this is due to lack of communication or if they should rely more on student input for homecoming events. 

After battling in the rain for two hours, the senior team Deep Threat came out on top with a final score of 26-12.