It wasn’t your ordinary football game.

Girls donned pads and boys donned skirts, all to raise money for a good cause. The annual powder puff game was held on October 23.

The seniors defeated the juniors 26-20; however, junior Payton Fiel feels the game was rigged. “The juniors should have won,” Fiel said. “They took away one of my touchdowns, but I don’t think there were any fouls pulled.”

The call in question came when Fiel scored a touchdown. Referee Charlie Porterfield said there was “illegal blocking” by the juniors and called the touchdown back.

“I thought it was fake,” junior Gwyn Newcomb said. “The game was rigged. In addition to that bad call, the seniors also got a lot of extra ‘fourth downs’ which helped them score.”

The seniors deny claims that the game was rigged. The senior girls were coached to victory by varsity football player Andrew Pickett. This was Pickett’s second year coaching the team.

“It was much different this year than it was last year,” Pickett said. “I think we had a better coaching staff in general, since all the coaches [for the senior powder puff team] were players on the football team. We also had better chemistry than last year.”

Senior Gracie Crater played for the winning team.

“I felt more prepared this year,” Crater said. Crater scored one of the touchdowns off of a pass from senior Mary O’Toole.

“We did more advanced plays this year,” O’Toole said. “We actually knew the plays.”

Although Crater was proud of her touchdown, her favorite play was when she took down her sister, junior Harper Crater.

“I didn’t really see it coming,” Harper Crater said. “I didn’t expect us to be on the field together since we both were on offense. I never even had a chance, she hit me really hard.”

Despite the loss, the junior girls and their coaches had a great time playing. Chris Khalligan, head coach for the junior team, feels the experience of coaching the team will make him a better player.

“It gives me a better understanding of the game,” Khalligan said. “Overall, it was a pretty good experience. We had a very solid team.”

Fiel, who scored three touchdowns for her team while only two counted, admits playing football was more difficult than she thought it would be.

“I learned being a running back was pretty difficult,” said Fiel. “I think we were all athletic enough, so our practice was mainly learning the plays.”

Newcomb enjoyed her time on the field and hopes to play again next year. “The best part was when I had an interception,” Newcomb said. “Grace Crater threw the ball and I intercepted it. The crowd went wild. It was cool to see so many people come out for the game.”