Happy New Year for our annual Powder Puff game for homecoming. This is the second year in a row for holding Powder Puff coming back since COVID-19. This year is highly anticipated. The Seniors against the Juniors and the Sophomores against Freshmen. The coaches for the senior team are Drew Stacey and Jacquari Nabb, they will lead the seniors to a hopeful 2 year streak. Coach Boncher is coaching the Juniors, the same team he coached last year hoping to maintain his lasting 6 year winning streak. Leading the Sophomores is Coach Bolke, coming back from a loss against Coach Boncher’s team last year. For the Freshmen, the new faces will be coached by Coach Russell. 

Our Seniors vs. Juniors game will be highly exciting this year. Both our seniors and juniors had won their powder puff game from last year’s homecoming. There has been a lot of talk about who will win this year. Talking with Coach Stacey and Nabb, they say that “the team right now is looking great. [Their] stud on defense is Julia Werner, she’s a monster to practice against. And on offense [they’re] seeing some really good contributions from Skylar Donadson and Avery Bishop. Couple that with [their] two way star Lucy Moore and you’ve got ourselves a blowout win versus the juniors. “ It seems to me that these coaches have trust in their team that they will win against the juniors. I continued the interview asking if they were worried about anyone on the junior team. Drew responded, “ Absolutely not. It’s [his] job not to worry. I mean you look at your offense and you see disorganization. Biggest threat right now might be Venus Bearnod, but [he’s] done enough scouting to easily pick apart her game.” They add on saying that “we have [plays] to combat the juniors. “ Jacquari adds “We are the better team, I mean what Can I say, star power, togetherness, and most importantly we represent the Warren Way.” The coaches of this team only see the outcome… them winning. They are highly confident with their team.

For the juniors, Coach Boncher says, “I am confident. We have the talent to give them a competitive game. How our team executes will ultimately determine the outcome. It will come down to the little things.” All these coaches have such good things to say about their teams. From talking with Coach Boncher, his team prioritizes “fundamentals and the players have done a good job taking the coaching and applying it on both sides of the ball.” He also adds that, “We have a great group of players who understand we have a short amount of time to get ready for game day. They have a great attitude and come to practice focused and ready to work hard.” I question him if he is worried about the senior team. He dictates,” The senior team is collectively a very strong team. They have athletes all over the field and they put that on display last year in their victory against the juniors.” Coach Boncher is highly experienced and this isn’t his first rodeo. He strongly believes in this team he has been coaching for the past 2 years. To conclude my interview with Coach Boncher, he strongly believes that “[his] players know [he takes] this very seriously. [He demands] a lot out of them because [he believes] if they are] going to put the time in, we should hold ourselves to a high standard. This is a very competitive group so it’s fun to see them respond to coaching and push themselves to get better.” Hearing what the coaches of the seniors and juniors have to say, this game will be the best yet to see.

For the Freshman vs Sophomore game, Coach Russell will be leading the Freshman. This is her first time coaching for our annual powder puff event. She has prior experience from playing in high school. She remembered that “it was so much fun and I made a lot of friends doing it well. I am also a freshman this year and we are having so much fun together.” From speaking with her, she puts emphasis in having a fun experience and working hard. She says “[she has] a few fast girls and a great quarterback. [She has] a pretty good team and a lot of girls who want to play and [they] have so much fun while doing it. [She has]confidence in [her] team. [They] are really going to try to win, if [they] don’t, I just hope that my girls had so much fun playing and will do it again next year.” From concluding with my interview with Ms. Russell, she brings positivity in the game, bringing the fun into it. She is preparing to go against Ms. Bolke’s team who suddenly lost to Coach Boncher’s team from last year. Coach Bolke did not have sufficient time to answer questions, but what I saw from her team last year, her team was fast and were novices in their Freshmen game. I know she has trained them well for this year to get back on track.

Powder puff isn’t just a game, but a family. Seeing all these different classes brought together, creating unity. These girls have never seen each other outside of school, but work together after school for powder-puff. Powder-puff brings everyone together, getting ready for our homecoming, representing our great diversity and unity at Warren Township High School. I can’t wait to see the outcomes of these games from our freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

 – Venus Bearnod.