By: Meghan Kolcum
Powderpuff is an exciting and fun-filled night when females play football and males are cheerleaders. The student body’s excitement filled the school during spirit week, as everyone had high hopes of enjoying a memorable game of gender-switching football later that week. Now, who are these lucky guys that dress up as lovely ladies in front of the entire school? Well, our cheerleading seniors include Devon Carter, Kyle O’Connor, Jake Singer, Liam Marshall-Brown, David Dunn, Chris Guerro, Diego Orbegeso, Kabir Anand, Matt Radcliff, Christian Abbate, Tyler Demoss, Hasan Tariq, and Jhavi Schatz. The time and practice that these young men take out of their busy schedules shows their dedication to the team.
“In order to be in powderpuff and take on the role of being a cheerleader, you have to know how to count and to listen and be able to execute the moves after a demonstration,” says Anand. “My favorite scene is our Lion King scene with the human staircase; this is when Kyle climbs up on top of us and then throws a Husky at the juniors,” says Carter. Memories and fun times are created during the time period, and new friendships form. “One memory that I have was being scared to face Kyle if I was late. [Another memory was] the day we finished our routine and [got] to celebrate,” says Anand.
As another year of powderpuff was cancelled, this year due to the closing of the road for the presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a roar of upset filled the school. Even with the rescheduling of the game, a rather ambivalent student body attempted to make their voice heard. The powderpuff cheerleaders and football players were equally disappointed. “I understand it’s a big event that Romney’s coming, but we’ve been working hard and it’s just disappointing,” says senior Chanelle Wideman, a member of the powderpuff football team.
After a long wait for the powderpuff game, due to a vast amount of rescheduling, the day finally came. On a dark, bitter, cold night the juniors versus seniors’ game was on. The attitudes and fierce want of winning was incredibly stressed within the hearts and souls of both teams. The ramped-up vibe of a long awaiting urge to win filled the spirits of the two competing teams. The only question that remained was who wanted it more? The victorious winners would prove their true dedication and win the title of powderpuff champions.
The day at school was memorable while watching the junior and senior cheerleaders parade around the halls with their beautified selves: giant hairdos, thick masks of makeup, and rolled up shorts that were hiked up so high that Mrs. Jacobs made an announcement to remind them about the dress code. The senior girls had been working very meticulously on their plays, having practiced multiple times a week and during the mornings before school started. The game was much more memorable due to the amount of time and effort both genders and grades put into their practices.
To start the game off, the chant of “I Believe” filled the field from the seniors as they stomped out onto the field in dear hope they would win yet another round of powderpuff. As the first quarter of the game began, the juniors had the ball with Jamie Adler in control. Unfortunately for the juniors, a fumble was made and Grace Bowen grabbed the ball and ran a long 20 yards, just shy of the end zone. Annie Hartman made the first TD for the seniors, bringing the score to 7-0. As the juniors and seniors continued their fight onwards, senior Maria Latimer scored two extra points, closing in the score at a whopping 9-0 until halftime.
It was time for the cheering portion of the game, and the lovely juniors came out in their tight spandex and homemade spirited Tuscarora shirts. Their dance moves were unforgettable as their cartwheels, pyramids, dance moves, and references to Psy were intriguing for the audience to watch. The seniors prepared themselves with phenomenal cheers. The wide variety of music and references to the Lion King and Psy also included the worm, tumbling, formations, and cultured dance as these put on the performance of a lifetime. As the family of boys worked together, their collaborative efforts were flawless and Mrs. Upp found them an absolute favorite. Even Mrs. Jacobs let them know that they had made such a “classy performance” during the school assembly the next day.
As the third quarter began, Cassidy McKenzie got hold of the ball and ran her 28 yards to a jaw-dropping touchdown. Even the announcer had something to say, close to “Does this girl have an atlas? Because she’s carrying her team on her back.” As the game continued, the juniors could not come back. “Did someone call the buses, because these junior girls need to go to school,” said the announcer. With one minute to spare the chant from the senior cheerleaders began: “I believe that we have won.” The seniors proved faithful to their school and won the title of powderpuff champions for the second year in a row.
