Annual Powderpuff Game Carries Tradition
September 29, 2016
The annual powderpuff football game took place on Sept. 26. The game consisted of two 20-minute halves. The two teams were made up of the juniors, who wore black jerseys, and the seniors and sophomores, who sported white jerseys. Many people were impressed by the turnout at the game. William Brown, Manitou’s history teacher, was the announcer at the game. His humorous commentary and insightfulness created a welcoming atmosphere.
Both teams had two practices, one the week before the game, and another right before. The game started with the ball barely dancing off the fingertips of many players. After a couple minutes, Caileen Sienknecht (10) passed the ball to Bridget Bodor (10) who scored the first touchdown of the game. After this, the white team tried to run a 2-point conversion, but failed. In the last minute of the first quarter, the score showed that the seniors and sophomores scored again, but Bonner overruled and said that they fell short.
Football wasn’t the only feature at the game, however. Many freshman boys, along with one sophomore, participated in cheerleading. Lily Reavis (12), the cheerleading coach, taught the boys basic cheers and stunts. Grayson Bodor (9) was the cheerleading captain. “We’re just having fun out here, having a good time cheerleading. We’re giving 100%, and enjoying supporting the girls here at Manitou. Go Mustangs!” Bodor said. Along with Bodor, Peter March (9), Parker Hall (9), Caleb Edwards (10), Zack Talbot (9) and Taylor Knight (9) were also on the cheerleading team, supporting the Powderpuff girls. For each stunt that the boys did, they dedicated it to a different person.
Edwards, as mentioned in an article here, does parkour. When the boys did their halftime routine, Edwards ended it with a backflip.
Once the game started up again, Lily Patterson (11) ran after Maddie Frahm (12), but Frahm stopped abruptly, and when Patterson fell, Frahm cut into a diagonal run and scored the second, and last, touchdown of the game. In the last few minutes of the game, sisters Alyssa (11) and Taylor Holladay (12) planed to get ejected, and in doing so tackled each other to the ground. Along with the Holidays, another pair of sisters, Sophie (10) and Amanda Nagel (11), also played against each other. There was no tackling on their end.
Mo Heiniger (12) played powderpuff for three years, and was the captain of her team this year. “I think that it was really fun to close off my senior Homecoming and everything, and just spend it with some pretty cool people. We got a little crazy and a little reckless, but one day a year my dad gets to have a football player, in a family of five girls, so it was really fun,” Heiniger said.
