With victories against both the freshman and junior classes, the seniors secured first place at the 2008 powder puff tournament, Nov. 21. The class of ’09 continued the senior precedent of powder puff success.

While the seniors triumphed over the other classes, the juniors placed second and the sophomores and freshmen tied for third.

The tournament consisted of four flag football games between the classes. In the initial two games, the seniors competed against the freshmen while the juniors challenged the sophomores.

Former football players from each class coached their respective teams. In the days before powder puff, classes assembled their teams and practiced during lunch periods with their coaches.

Although the freshmen carried an early lead of 13-12 against the seniors, the upperclassmen mustered the force to defeat the team of 12 newcomers, 28-19.

At the same time, the sophomores lost to the juniors, 12-6. The sophomore team of 12 girls, compared to the 15 juniors, suffered a lack of players due to several injuries occurring just before the games.

“I was upset that I couldn’t play because I look forward to [powder puff] every year,” Rebekah Wells, ’11, said. “I wish I would’ve been out there to help my class.”

The winners and losers of both games reconvened after a short break to vie for first and third place, respectively. The intermission allowed many players to rest and ease their bruises, scrapes and other ailments from the previous games.

In a contest for third place, the freshmen maintained their 6-0 lead against the sophomores up until the last few minutes. The sophomores managed a touchdown as the clock approached the game’s close.

Although the teams entered into overtime for a moment, the game ended in a 6-6 tie for third place.

“We almost tied the seniors, so if we would’ve done real overtime, we could’ve won this game,” Tyler Zaentz, a coach for the freshmen, said. “Everybody picks on the freshmen.”

Meanwhile, the seniors secured the first place trophy from the juniors with a 26-12 score in their match-up. The victory thrilled many seniors after their narrow loss to the class of ’08 in the previous year’s powder puff tournament.

“I’m very happy that we won,” Kally Batesole, ’09, said. “We fell short last year so it felt good to come back. We all came together as a class to win.”

Joe Hergenroeder, along with Scott Yantis, coached the winning senior team. He believes the 20 girls on the team, in addition to athletes, enjoyed the class event.

“We finally went 2-0 after three years of going 1-1, so I feel overjoyed,” Hergenroeder said. “We have the most athletic class out of the 2008-09 year, but even the ones that aren’t [athletic] had fun out there.”

While many guys stepped up to cheerlead their class team in previous years, the 2008 powder puff games experienced a lack of supporters. The freshmen, however, made an exception with their squad of five guys attempting to inspire the crowd.

“I figured it would get boring just watching football, so I wanted to do something else too,” Josh Hopper, a cheerleader for the freshman team, said. “We don’t care what other people think; we like to have fun even if a bunch of seniors say we’re stupid.”

For more coverage of 2008 powder puff, visit Sophomores vs. juniors, Half-extended Casuga, Senior backers and Root for the freshmen!