As the starting junior and senior girls step out onto the field for kickoff, they hear cheers from parents and students rooting for them in the stands. Everyone is smiling and laughing as the fall wind blows through the air. The referee blows the first whistle of the game, the game is about to begin.

Every year on the Wednesday before Homecoming, the junior and senior girls of MCHS verse each other for an annual Powderpuff Football Game at McCracken field. The winning class gets to celebrate in style after winning the Powderpuff Champions trophy. Students and fans come to watch and cheer on their favorite players.

“The Powderpuff Game is a good event during Homecoming Week, because it’s something for people to look forward to other than football games,” says senior Amber Bock. “It’s just another fun thing for people to be excited for, and especially for the girls who join.”

The Powderpuff Game is an opportunity for the girls to be able to have one night where they can feel what it’s like to be on the field and under the spotlight, especially if they are not involved in any other sports, events like this can be very empowering.

“A lot of girls are actually really good at football,” junior Marissa Calabrese says, “and obviously, a lot of them don’t want to play on the football team, so it’s a good opportunity to put their skills out on the field with other girls without getting powerhoused by guys.”

Typically sports like Powderpuff, football or flag football are designed to be games of skill, speed and ability. It is not meant to be a physical, pushing and pounding game. Yet, the girls played hard and got rather aggressive, but the most important aspect of the game is good sportsmanship.

“MCHS just started flag football this year, so that kind of gives girls an insight to what it’s like and maybe spark some interest in it,” junior Abby Powers says. “It’s also just a good way to bring a lot of people together.”

All the girls played their hearts out and got pretty rough on the field. In the end, seniors came out on top with a score of 34 to 24 and got to claim the Powderpuff Champion trophy.

“Throughout the practices and organizing I feel like everyone has made meaningful connections and new friends,” junior Kyra Hanneman says, “it’s cool to see the hard work pay off.”