On Oct. 8, the junior and senior girls participated in the annual powderpuff game, with the seniors winning their second game in a row by a final score of 27-13.
On the Wednesday of Homecoming week, after weeks of practice, the junior and senior girls participating in powderpuff football had an intense game resulting in a competitive and spirited outcome.
“We as a team really appreciated all the help from the coaches and each other,” senior wide receiver Erin Doucette said. “I thought we were going to be able to do it again, and we did.”
The students involved in the powderpuff game participated in several weekly practices. The junior girls had a total of 11 practices over a period of two and a half weeks.
“We did not have as much time as I would have liked us to have,” junior powderpuff coach and middle school construction teacher Michael Livorsi said.
The senior powderpuff team had a total of six practices in the span of three weeks, with two practices per week.
“The girls knew exactly what they needed to do,” senior coach and high school social studies teacher Sarah Ray said. “They knew their roles, where they needed to be and were completely prepared.”
Both coaches agreed that the time they had to practice greatly increased the upper hand that they had on each other on the field. Both teams learned a lot in the time they were given to practice.
“Some of the girls didn’t even know how to hold the football properly when we started this,” Livorsi said. “And to see them come out and make some big plays and play the way they did, I am beyond proud.”
The senior girls made some impressive plays throughout the game, making their margin of victory larger than it could have been. “The defense, I think, is what really stole the show,” Ray said. “Those girls went out to play. They were grabbing the flags, making sure no one got past them. They did a great job.”
Each of the students who were part of the game also agreed that it went very well, and while there were some challenges, everything went according to plan.
“I think we did really well,” Doucette said. “Everyone was supportive of each other.”
Both coaches made sure to let their teams know just how amazing they were doing throughout the game. Livorsi made clear that he had never coached anything before, and that this, being the first time he had coached anything, was certainly a little difficult.
“Both Coach [John] Mansour and I were practicing kind of on the fly,” Livorsi said. “We didn’t have the official rules, so we practiced one thing, and then we realized that we had to change a few things.”
Both coaches Livorsi and Ray mentioned that they greatly benefited from their fellow coaches. Each team in powderpuff is run by multiple coaches to specialize in different areas and create enhanced strategies through multiple points of view.
“We had Coach [Daniel] Ferrel and we had Coach [Andy] Drendel, who were very knowledgeable about football,” Ray said. “They knew exactly how to run these defensive plays and how to run these offensive plays. They really taught the girls a lot about everything that they needed to know.”
While Livorsi had never coached anything prior to this game, the coaches on the senior team had plenty of experience.
“The girls knocked it out of the park,” Ray said. “They knew exactly what they had to do, and I think it was because of all the practices and talks we had about each of the positions.”
