Powderpuff sweetens sour homecoming

Senior+cheerleaders+end+their+final+homecoming+week+by+performing+their+cheer+routine+during+the+third+quarter+of+Powderpuff.+

photo by Faith Marino

Senior cheerleaders end their final homecoming week by performing their cheer routine during the third quarter of Powderpuff.

In a final flurry for Homecoming week, Powderpuff took place last Saturday at 6 p.m. The seniors beat the juniors 36-6 becoming one of the only powderpuff teams to win back to back games in school history.  

“After realizing how many sports these girls played, from weightlifting to soccer to softball, etc. I knew these girls were athletic,” senior coach Curtis Duren said. “What surprised me was how competitive these girls were.” 

Practices were limited because of the busy sports season, so the senior team felt even more pressure to focus on running plays. Starting the game off, senior quarterback Emma Canty ran the ball for a 30-yard touchdown, the first touchdown of many. 

“We didn’t know what the other team had, so we came out ready to fight for the win,” senior Siara Youngblood said. “So when we got the first touchdown we were surprised. We never thought we would win by so much.”

The juniors were unprepared for such a competitive senior team, even more so with just three scheduled practices. 

“With so little practices when the team got on the field, we didn’t know where people should play, so we had to figure out what was most effective as we were playing,” junior Carly Bitner said. 

The Powderpuff, as expected, was one of the highest-attended events of the year, with the long-awaited male cheerleader performance in the third-quarter.  Both junior and seniors performed, but the junior cheerleaders had two weeks to learn basic cheerleading moves, whereas the seniors could build on knowledge from the previous year.

“It was fun doing powderpuff, even though it did take up a lot of time and it was very physically taxing,” cheerleader Andres Montes said. 

The third-quarter show displayed  moves such as the backflip basket, pike jump, bridge flip, and a human pyramid. Senior cheerleaders Andres Montes, Lukas Schoenfield, and Nathen Gilman all had solos that got the crowd up on their feet. 

“The best part of the week by far was the cheerleading performance. The seniors killed it out there and honestly I wish they were at every football game,” Bitner said. 

The coronation of the homecoming king and queen took place during halftime, with the court announced at the basketball game the previous day. The court first lined up to walk down the 50-yard line, where their interests and career goals were announced.  Seniors Mckenna Flatten and Dylan Clem won King and Queen.  After being crowned the couple was taken around the field in a convertible to end coronation. 

“I’m glad they still had coronation this year. I had a great time on court and it would have been weird to have a Homecoming week without it,” senior Kevin Cosio said.  

Powderpuff was not the only event to take place during Homecoming week. Paws on the Wall also took place Jan. 27  after school. The Senior Activities Committee ran the event, serving free pizza, candy and drinks. Seniors got to paint their hands and leave their “paw print” on the wall. 

“I loved the event because I finally got to do a senior thing this year since we’ve missed out on so many others,” senior Jacob Smith said. 

Everyday of the week was also accompanied by a dress up day starting with the Three Musketeers,  Rollo(ut) of bed, Jolly Ranchers, Milky Way, Warheads.

“The dress up days were cool. I liked coming to school in my pajamas,” freshman Sahil Ravanni said. 

Leadership tried to host other events such as the student/faculty basketball game and a hypnotist show, however, due to lack of participation, both events resulted in cancellations. Still, by the end of the week, leadership students accomplished their biggest goal: to bring some form of homecoming to Hagerty. 

“We wanted to give the students some sense of normalcy and school spirit and to have them look forward to something fun, not just the same day to day routine,” leadership teacher Kari Miller said. 

Check out our bonus homecoming coverage below.

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