On Oct. 10, the seniors defeated the juniors 16-7 in the Powderpuff final. The seniors, who cruised to a 28-0 victory over the freshmen on Oct. 4, consistently held a strong offense to score two touchdowns. The juniors, who defeated the sophomores 7-0 on Oct 3, were unable to hold a defensive line against the seniors.
“We didn’t underestimate them [this time],” Powderpuff coach senior Omar Naguib said. “Last year, when we played handball, we definitely thought we had the upper hand just because of our experience — but we were obviously proven wrong. But this year, we weren’t going to lose to anybody.”
The seniors started the game on offense. Early runs by senior Mimi Akaogi pushed the team forward 30 yards. The juniors struggled to defend, allowing the seniors to push forward despite an incomplete pass. Consecutive 13-yard runs by senior Chelsea Soldan and Akaogi put the seniors on the edge of the endzone at the 2-yard line. Strong junior defense, including blocking by junior Jackie Yee and an interception on the fourth down by junior Stephanie Jennings, kept the seniors from scoring a touchdown.
After the juniors gained possession, quarterback junior Tiffany Tsai fumbled in the endzone on the first down to give the seniors possession and a safety, putting the score at 2-0 with the seniors ahead. A 25-yard run by Akaogi for a touchdown put the seniors back on track for touchdown at the 16-yard line, where they attempted and failed a deep pass. Akaogi then made a run up the side to score a touchdown. The seniors ended the first half 9-0.
“We just had a lot of trouble pulling the flags off of them and I think that’s what really hindered us,” Powderpuff player junior Emma Seyer said. “We were blocking them but we weren’t just getting our hands on it.”
As the Powderpuff players and coaches met to discuss strategy for the upcoming half, the junior and then the senior cheerleader boys performed their routines.
At the start of the second half, Yee caught a senior pass and made two consecutive runs to put them at the 21-yard line. From there, Wu pushed the team all the way up to the 16-yard line. Despite direction from the senior coaches, the senior girls were unable to muster a strong enough defensive line to block the juniors’ pass to the 3-yard line. Junior Kelly Ruckstuhl caught another pass in the endzone, giving the juniors a touchdown to cut into the seniors’ lead to 7-9.
Only two minutes into the second half, the juniors still had a chance to take the lead if they could hold off the seniors’ next drive. The seniors took offense again with five minutes left. An invigorated defense by the juniors stopped Akaogi at the 53-yard line, after which the seniors made an eight-yard pass. Three minutes left and third down, Soldan tossed the ball to a teammate intended to be passed back to her to run for first down — sealing the game. Two more runs by Soldan put the seniors at the 24-yard line, where Akaogi made another dash for the endzone, raising the seniors lead to 16-7.
The juniors made a final attempt for a touchdown with two minutes left in the game. Junior Richelle Ju was blocked at the 50-yard line as strong defense by the seniors blocked the juniors from making any big gains. The juniors went for a deep pass in an attempt for another touchdown but the clock ran out at the 57-yard line.
“We didn’t get a good look at [the seniors] against the freshmen; they really didn’t have to show us anything,” Powderpuff coach junior Ryan Manley said. “So we didn’t really prepare well enough on defense for what they were gonna do … A couple of mistakes cost us points that we couldn’t make up in the end.”
The 16-7 victory by the class of 2013 is their second-ever Powderpuff win.
“Everyone doubted us,” Powderpuff player senior Gal Haroush said. “Everyone thought we sucked because we haven’t won a Powderpuff game before our senior year, and then we worked together so well against the freshmen, and finally came out strong against the juniors.”
