Powder Puff Preparations
Photo by Paola Magaña.
By Rishi Nachnani
Tomorrow night at 7, the annual Powder Puff football game is going down. Powder Puff is a flag football game where girls take the field under the lights and guys are on the sidelines cheerleading. It’s a tradition at Novato High, and at many different schools across the country. For one night, girls get a chance to prove themselves on the football field in an entertaining matchup of juniors vs. seniors. The reward is solely bragging rights and memories.
The rules are simple. All of the usual football rules apply, but this is flag football, so tackling is prohibited. The girls will be issued a warning before being removed from play if tackling is prevalent. This doesn’t stop the girls from battling fiercely on the field, even if that means getting a little physical.
The girls are typically coached by a few of the guys on the varsity football team. They are assigned positions depending on the different talents they have.
“We will judge their skills and see where they fit best in our offense,” said junior coach Marcus Kehs. “We will attempt to run a spread offense with a bunch of reads if they can get the hang of it.”
The girls are excited to get on the field and show people what they’ve got. Last year, neither team was able to come out on top as the competitive game ended in a 6-6 tie. For last year’s juniors (class of 2018), wide receiver Jamie Level caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Katie McGrath for their only score of the game. Now as seniors, the class of 2018 is looking to bounce back against this year’s juniors.
Senior wide receiver Julianna Campas is looking forward to her last Powder Puff game.
“We definitely want to beat the Juniors this year,” said Campas. “I think we just really want to beat them because we felt that we should've won last year but we weren’t given more time to prove ourselves and score.”
On the other hand, the class of 2019 are looking to win their first game of Powder Puff.
“The competition is pretty high, but if we give it our all and practice enough I feel like we can come around and get a win,” said junior class president Paola Magaña.
The cheerleading boys also have an impact on the girls on the field. “It does add a good amount of pressure but I feel like if you’re in the zone on the field it won’t matter,” said Magaña.
The other aspect of Powder Puff, and arguably the more amusing one, is the boys’ cheerleading. The boys cheer throughout the game, but their main performance is during halftime when they really get to show what they’ve got in store with choreographed dance routines. They are taught their routines and given their outfits by members of the Hornets cheer team.
As many are engrossed in high school, college, and professional football throughout the fall season, Powder Puff is another entertaining opportunity to enjoy some football.