Football Season Starts Early At Peninsula High
• Last week the the much anticpated Powder Puff football game took place at Peninsula High School.
An annual game that features girls playing flag football with varsity football players as coaches is an exciting event that switches the roles of football players and girls.
Every year the Powder Puff game pits juniors against seniors, with senior football players coaching the senior girls and the junior football players coaching the junior girls.
Prior to the game, each team had practices to learn how to play the game, with specific plays to run. After practice the coaches picked players for offense and defense based on the girls’ skills.
Last year the juniors won so the seniors this year were dedicated to winning, because it was their last chance to play. The girls all wore their class colors (the juniors 
wore green while the seniors wore blue) with their graduating number on the back.
The game ended with a win for the juniors. Despite the loss, the seniors had many great plays, often passing the ball, while the juniors typically ran the ball.
“I had no idea what to expect going into the game, but I got the hang of it really quickly and did not want it to end,” said Maxine Bennett, an offensive player for the juniors.
There was even an interesting twist to the event, with the junior boys and senior boys being cheerleaders and both sides putting on an amusing halftime show.
Powder Puff is a concept that has been going on for decades between girls and football players, and the tradition is something each side has looked forward to.
“I was on defense, and it was really fun learning about strategy and then putting that knowledge into the game,” said Amalia Munn, a defender for the juniors.
The touchdowns for the juniors came from Izzy Pack, who got two, and the other one by Sydney Bombardekar. Pack also won MVP honors for offense, while Amalia Munn won MVP honors for defense.
“It was kind of funny when the coaches would yell at us to guard 18 and then realize everyone’s number was 18,” said Bombedekar, speaking about the challenges of everyone having the same number.
Overall, all the participants and spectator thoroughly enjoyed it and the football players worked hard coaching the girls.
The juniors are looking forward to next year’s game when they get a chance to play the (now) sophomores.
