This article won honorable mention in the 2022 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
On Wednesday, October 6, the junior and senior girls faced off in the annual Powderpuff football game. After nearly two weeks of practicing, game day had finally arrived.
The juniors won the coin toss and chose to get the ball first. Starting the game out strong was the goal, and they did just that, capping off a 70 yard drive with a long touchdown run by Sylvia Peterson. Junior running back Emersyn Dodge drove them down the field with multiple long runs. On 4th down, Peterson subbed in as quarterback and ran a 45 yard touchdown to the outside. The two-point conversion was stopped making the score 6-0 nearing the end of the 1st quarter.
Looking for an answer, the seniors drove down the field easily with a pair of long runs by quarterback, Lilli Karnowski. The junior defense dug deep and managed to stop the seniors on a 4th down at the 25 yard line. This was a huge momentum swing.
The high powered junior offense took the field once again, trying to increase their lead.
Early in the drive, junior coach David Snow drew up the perfect play. A triple reverse to speedy receiver Sylvia Peterson was the call. After almost getting caught behind the line of scrimmage, Peterson turned the corner and saw nothing but green, taking it to the house for an 85 yard touchdown.
The point after was no good, and the juniors led 12-0 with 5 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter.
Trotting back to the field the seniors needed to score before the end of the half. Senior coach Calvin Cuba was switching between short pass plays and outside runs. The seniors had a successful drive and were nearing their first score of the game. Unfortunately for them, they ran out of time in the half and headed to the locker room down 0-12.
The 2nd half was a defensive battle. The seniors received the kickoff and managed to get a couple first downs. The drive came to an end when they failed to convert on 4th down.
Offensively, the juniors struggled in the 2nd half to get first downs. Their 12 point lead was comfortable with their defense, so the lack of offense wasn’t a huge problem.
The Senior offense struggled with turnovers. Karnowski threw three interceptions. Two that were intercepted by junior star safety Lauren Walsh. Another which was in the 4th quarter on a spectacular catch by Lillian Burns-Warner.
The juniors came up on top winning the 2021 Powderpuff game 12-0. This victory marks the first win ever for a junior powderpuff team at Northview. For the senior class, Mandex may be their only hope to comeback from this defeat.
