By Kharen Baduria, Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 26th was a hot day with the sun beaming down on the high school football field. Cheerleaders shouted and danced, as one might see at any football game, but these were boys cheering for girls in the powderpuff game. This year’s powderpuff was organized as a fundraiser for the class of 2011 by junior class adviser Casey Matthews and junior class President Sara Post.

Powderpuff football is similar to flag and touch football. The girls are out on the field playing football while the guys are either coaching or cheering. The girls played flag- style football, however, when there was an interception it turned to two-hand touch.

It has been three years since this event has been played at BHS. Post explained her motivation for bringing the tradition back: “I hope to get a lot of class spirit out of this, and a way for people who normally wouldn’t be hanging out together on the weekend to have fun,” Post said. It appears that this goal was achieved.

Junior Ari Levine said that he would most remember, “The male cheerleaders.” Levine also mentioned that he would remember, “hanging out with everyone who was there. It was nice just to get away from school for a little bit and just have a good time.”

The idea of powderpuff football is that the girls play football and the boys are coaches and cheerleaders. The junior class was the only class that had male cheerleaders; however, these boys went all out. Wearing short shorts and skirts, the boys painted 2011 on their stomachs and fashioned their shirts into bra-style tops. Although the juniors didn’t win, the cheerleaders and the team remained spirited the whole time.

Sophomore Ena Jones, a member of the winning team, mentioned that, “it was fun and it’s a good way of bringing the school together.” The sophomores beat the two junior teams twice, with both games going into multiple overtimes.
Junior Ari Meskin said, “The best part was the actual competitiveness of the girls and the spirit of the [classes]. I was also very impressed with the skill level of some of the girls.”

Due to the numbers of participants, the freshmen and senior class girls were combined as one team whereas the junior class was split into two teams. The sophomores played against the first junior team while the freshman/senior team played against the second junior team.

In the end, it came down to the second junior team against the sophomores and after an endless overtime game, the sophomore team won it all.
Matthews thought that powderpuff was very successful, “The players and the coaches seemed to have a wonderful time. I’m looking forward to seeing the tradition renewed.”