Each year, as fall turns to winter, high school students from all grade levels come together and compete in a Powder-Puff football game. Powder-Puff football is contrary to typical football in that the girls play while the boys coach.
“My favorite part was just helping the players play football and understand the game more,” Austin Anderson (12) said, who was a coach for the senior team
There is also no tackling, due to the absence of pads, amongst other differences. Powder-Puff football has been a tradition at Freedom for years. Recently, the structure of the competition has changed numerous times. This year was no different. Due to the lack of participants, rather than the traditional four-team tournament, where there is a team for each grade level, two teams were formed instead. This year, the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors formed a team to play against the senior team. Due to the changes, there was one longer game rather than a shorter game bracket like in years past. The teams faced off in a four-quarter length match, with each quarter lasting ten minutes of running clock, unless a penalty was called.
“I feel that the changes made more sense because of the lack of players signing up,” Nicholas Fessler (9) said. “The opportunity to just have a great time playing and coaching football with a wide variety of people was awesome and made the night that much better.”
Even with the changes, both teams seemed to have a great time competing.
“Although the game was freezing, I had a good time,” Riley Tokar (12) said. “[I love] being able to play a sport that I don’t normally get to play, and do it with all my friends.”
Right as the first whistle of the night blew, both teams were prepared to compete. Throughout the first half, the score remained close. Each time the seniors scored, it seemed that the underclassmen were able to push right back down the field and score a touchdown of their own. After a brief halftime where the players and coaches were able to regroup and determine their game plan for the second half, the players were ready to go again. The second half was even more competitive than the first. More scoring from the seniors was quickly canceled out by that of the underclassmen. That is, all until the very end of the fourth quarter. With ten seconds remaining, the senior coaches called timeout and drew up one final play. As time resumed, senior quarterback Annabelle Komlos threw the ball 15 yards to Tokar for a touchdown as time expired.
“My favorite part of the game was throwing the game-winning touchdown and celebrating with my friends,” Komlos said.
The final score of the game was 28-22 for the seniors, allowing them to maintain their win streak. Despite the freezing temperatures and minimal participants, the Powder-Puff game remains a success year after year.