To get the Gateway community hyped up for Homecoming, the staff and students put together a unique pep rally with tons of school spirit: a Powder Puff Football Game!
In previous years, Gateway has done the Powder Puff game as an after-school activity, normally hosted in the evening and attended by families of players. But this year, they decided, why not bring the fun to the whole school, and throw the game during pep rally time?
On Friday, October 28th, the students from grades 7-12 came down to the Swamp football stadium to watch and participate in the Powder Puff Football! The middle school students were there just to watch and enjoy, but high school students from grades 9-12 were able to compete in the action!
Powder Puff Games are unlike standard football, in one main way: all the players were girls, giving them their chance to shine out on the field! Boys who wanted to join in could also be coaches, or cheerleaders. Gateway has been doing Powder Puff games for some good years, and it’s a tradition loved by the people for its excitement and inclusive fun. Teachers also assisted, in planning, and in coaching these inspiring individuals.
The match-ups in the pep rally were the following: Freshman against the Sophomores and Juniors against the Seniors. The grades would compete to prove themselves the most spirited and powerful! And, to deepen the versus between classes, the students were given class colors, being: pink for Seniors, purple for Juniors, black for Sophomores, and lastly, blue for Freshmen.
People in the stands, on the field, and on the benches were all wondering the same thing: “Which teams will reign victorious at this year’s Powder Puff Football games?”
So, without further ado, how did these thrilling matches play out?
The Freshmen
The first game was between the freshmen and the sophomores. The freshmen started off strong in the beginning but were pushed back by the sophomores. One sophomore actually scored, which made the freshmen need to up their game. Thankfully for them, though, it didn’t count, since she ran out of bounds before she scored.
Sophomores
In game one, with the freshman vs. the sophomores, the sophomores played hard! Mid- game, the sophomores were able to miraculously score a touchdown, but it was unfortunately overturned due to the player stepping just out of bounds before making it into the end zone. The game continued with players on each team making it closer and closer to the end zone, but eventually the timer ran out, and the score rested at 0-0.
From what was gathered from the post-game interviews, both teams seemed to definitely enjoy themselves, and they are all looking forward to next year. Even with neither team scoring, the audience, and hopefully the players had fun.
Half-Time
When both the freshmen and the sophomores were allowed a break to let their bodies rest, the cheerleaders took the stage! The microphones in the stadium played a compilation of music that the cheerleaders could work with. Their performance was spectacular: a mix of complicated acrobatic movements and gymnastics. They finished off by posing for the crowd in a well organized row, with some standing at the back and a few splitting on the floor in front.
Halfway through the match between the freshmen and the sophomores, there was another small break where viewers would get to watch anonymous teachers race against one another on the track. They were dressed in inflatable costumes that represented all kinds of animals, for example: a shark, dinosaur, and axolotl. The overall winner was history teacher, Mr. Kennedy, who represented the freshmen.
Juniors
After the completion of the Freshmen vs. Sophomore match, the cheerleader performance, and the exhilarating teacher race, the final face off was the Juniors vs. Seniors. The Juniors, dressed in royal purple, were pinned against the Seniors, doused in pink. The Juniors played hard, keeping the game centered and well matched. Around 9 girls played on the field at each time, from each team. Many plays were planned, some successful, some not so much. The field became a blur of purple, pink, and black, both grades brawling for the ball.
(Ace Smith)
Seniors
When the game started, it was lots of going back and forth down the football field. Luckily, the Senior girls got the ball back and scored the first touchdown! The touchdown by senior Bella Fini left the Juniors struggling to fight back.
At the end of the game’s first half, the Seniors were up, 7-0. Before the second half was about to start each team huddled together planning their next move. It was now the second half of the game. After many tries to get a touchdown, one of the senior girls got the ball and started running as fast as she could all the way to the touchdown zone! Leaving the game 14-0! The Seniors have won the game!
But will these Class of ‘26 warriors make a comeback? Or will the Class of ’25 leave them in the smoke?
Unfortunately for the Juniors, no, they will not. After another Senior touchdown leaving them 14-0, the Junior class was defeated. Luckily for them, there’s always next year (Can’t say the same for the Seniors, though).
No team spirit was lost from this loss, though! All the teams included Friday were great sports, played hard, and most importantly, had fun. Congratulations to the Gateway Seniors for taking home the champion title!
In the end, both the players and the audience had a great time with Powder Puff. From the nail-biting plays to the fun activities in between, this was an event not to miss. It’s unfortunate that the freshmen and sophomores ended with a score of 0-0, but they definitely walked away feeling motivated and confident for next year. Amazing job to the seniors for bringing home the big win! 14-0 is so impressive, and they gave it their all to crush the juniors. Great job to all participating players!
