Copy-Editor: Maia Forssman ’23
One of the main hallmarks of Homecoming Week at Kennedy is the annual PowderPuff football game between the ladies of the junior and senior classes. Weeks of preparation and anticipation culminated in the upperclasswomen going head to head on Tuesday, September 27 for this year’s tournament. Varsity football players volunteered their time and expertise to serve as coaches, guiding the ladies through offensive and defensive plays. In a riveting 60 minute game the class of 2023 crushed the juniors, beating them 28-0.
Before the game fellow students cheered from the stands as they tried to spot their friends in the moving sea of yellow and pink. The coaches rounded up the players in a desperate attempt to practice before the big game. It was soon time to see if history would repeat itself in a senior victory, or if the juniors could pull off a rare upset against the class of ‘23.
As soon as the seniors started on offense it was clear that Seniors Kaitlyn Roemmelt, Malin Turnquist, and Ava Nix wouldn’t let that happen. The juniors couldn’t catch up to Roemmelt no matter how hard they tried. The defensive line kneeling in their stances, the senior girls busted right through to deliver a total of four touchdowns over the course of the game. For a brief moment in quarter 2 it seemed that the juniors were beginning to get their act together and pack on the pressure, with Megan Doherty ‘24 shining as the junior quarterback and giving the yellow a fighting chance. Junior Lauren Fox also caught more passes than anyone else and doubled as offense and defense. In spite of these efforts, the Juniors lost the ball right at the touchdown line in the second quarter, turning it over again to the seniors. For every other minute in the game the seniors practically had victory in their hands, with the final touchdown being won by Ava Nix ‘23 in quarter 4 in a memorable 90 yard run down the field. After 60 minutes of gameplay the senior score lit up with an impressive twenty-eight points while the junior score had not budged since the first handoff. Cheers erupting, a mass of pink t-shirts and smiling sequined faces swarmed the field to congratulate the class of 2023.
We caught up with Francesca Luce ‘23 after the victory: “It was a good game, the energy was really high. Chris Earle — best defensive line coach there is. We would not have won that game without the amazing coaches. They made it a point to sub us all in, so we all got played and it was great.”
As for the junior perspective, Hannah Noreika ‘24 relayed, “As a transfer, I’ve been amazed at how connected the Kennedy community is, and Powder Puff really drove that in. We did our best, even if it will take a little while for the boys to accept the loss. I’m super excited for next year. Hopefully we’ll win as seniors and keep that streak going.”
This year’s Powder Puff showdown was certainly one for the books. Our junior girls will undoubtedly be motivated to come back stronger next year to claim the winning title. Or perhaps the current sophomores will surprise us all in a win against the class of 2024!