Once again, the Junior Class defeated the Senior Class (26-14) in the annual Powder Puff game on Wed. Sep 16, continuing the juniors winning streak for a fifth consecutive year.
Powder Puff is an annual flag football game between the junior and senior classes held during Homecoming week. Football players and OH staff help coach team practices leading up to the game.
Junior coach Nancy Wyatt praised the football coaches for their preparation throughout the season, “We have a great group of football coaches, and they are super organized, really ready to kind of get those practices going. So it’s been great.”
A victory for the juniors may surprise some, but looking at past trends juniors tend to defeat the seniors, despite the seniors’ experience in powderpuff.
“I do think that [the juniors are] just very focused and they don’t have anything else to base it off of, since it’s their first time playing,” Wyatt said. “There’s nothing to try to improve on. They’re all raw and they’re all really motivated to win.”
The team’s motivation is not the only thing standing out, but also the athletic ability and talent both teams have.
OH Junior Alexia Baier displays clear confidence when discussing her team strengths, sharing a promising vision. “Yeah, I see a lot of talent, and there’s definitely a lot of athletic girls there.”
Lower numbers of players has also allowed each player to get more playing time, personal help and advice.
“We have a lot less [players] this year. 42, I believe, are playing. 85 played last year. So I think yeah, more reps for the girls because there’s half as many players. It’s definitely helping,” OH Science teacher and Senior Coach Shon Keener said.
Before the game, Keener predicted that the seniors would have a strong chance of winning, because of how strong and confident the team was looking:
“I’m going to say a score of 22 to 8. Just watching them practice. We’ve got some speed. Got some players that are really talented, and they look polished. But I think the seniors will come out on top this year.”
At the end of the 1st half the juniors were already leading, the seniors knew they had to put in some more work to end up on top. The halftime score was 12-0.
During the second half, the seniors started to put some points on the board but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to take home the win. The juniors won 26-14, continuing the juniors’ winning streak.
