With the arrival of Thanksgiving, comes not only the annual Thanksgiving football game, but also the annual girls Powderpuff game. On November 26th, 2014, the junior and senior girls of Malden High School faced off in the rain and snow at MacDonald Stadium.
Volunteers from the senior and junior classes who play football for MHS coached the girls, teaching them valuable skills and the rules of the sport. Seeing how it was difficult for the girls to learn all of the requirements of a new position in just a few weeks, they relied on their coaches to guide them.
With every practice, the girls on each team were able to build strong abilities and have trust in one another. Both sides expressed desires to dominate the opposing class. This determination was very evident during the game, as both teams played hard without giving up, despite the bad weather.
The juniors displayed great defense, as they had several interceptions throughout the game. With the strength of the defensive players, the juniors were able to hold the seniors back, only allowing them to score one touch down. Junior player Brenna Murray expresses that “it’s really fun but hard at the same time.”
Even so, the seniors girls one touchdown proved to be fatal as the game ended 6-0, in favor of the upperclassmen. The seniors proudly proclaimed “Attack!” and “Hit!” to be their mottos, which showed in their playing. With that, the seniors’ offensive strength proved to be great.
To describe the feeling of how it is to play in the game is difficult because “in the game you don’t think,” expresses senior player Robyn Santo, as decisions have to be made in a split moment. Both sides gave it their all with every push, tackle, and shove, with the seniors giving just a bit more, enough to, once again, win as they always have, to the point of it being tradition for the juniors to face a loss to the college-bound girls.
The girls aren’t the only ones to benefit from the sport of Powderpuff, the boys coaching were also able to get something from the experience. Junior coach Robert Green says that ”[he loves] playing the sport in general so coaching it is just another perspective from the sidelines.” Junior coach Lincoln Ibanda stated that the “interactions [he has] with people on the team” are very memorable and fun, especially when everyone is “on the same page” in terms of what to do and how to do it. Junior coach Djorggenson Exilhomme explained how he “want[ed] them to know how it feels like to actually get the ball on offense, defense, and score a touchdown.”
Coaching isn’t all fun and games though, as senior Jaymes Pomares admits that coaching Powderpuff can be “stressful [as there is] a lot of girls, and [they] want to get everyone playing time.” Senior coach and MHS football captain Isaac Bethea comments how fun coaching is when “everyone is here,” but expressed hardships “when there’s no one there, [because] there’s nothing [they] can really do.” Despite the stress, due to the immense desire to defeat the juniors, the whole senior team made the experience very memorable.
Even so, the sheer amount of dedication, perseverance, and determination placed into the game by the girls, made it be a truly enjoyable Powderpuff game, marking this year as the 9th annual game, for both the junior and senior team. The senior girls who had an advantage from playing their junior year, with a combination of spending a sufficient amount of time practicing and building team unity, walked away with a fulfilling win for their last ever Powderpuff game.
