On May 22, Lakeland High School held the annual Powder Puff game.
LHS football players coached the girls in a head-to-head showdown between the senior/freshmen team and the junior/sophomore team.
After many long weeks of practice, both teams were prepared to showcase their talents in front of a large crowd of supporters at Corbit Field, and they did not disappoint. This was one of the most gritty and scrappy Lakeland Powder Puff games in recent memory.
The game was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. but kickoff didn’t happen until nearly 9 p.m., setting up a game for the ages under the bright field lights.
The senior/freshmen team started off slow, failing to score a point in the first half, but their defense kept them in the game.
The scoring was kicked off by a long touchdown run from Karstyn Kiefer in the first quarter, giving her team a 6-0 lead. She also kicked the two-point conversion, extending the lead to eight.
This score remained the same going into halftime, sparking high hopes for an upset for the junior/sophomore team.
However, the senior/freshman girls staged a thrilling comeback, not allowing the opposing offense to get anything going, despite a strong run game from Kiefer and Chloe Neff.
The senior/freshman team finally got on the scoreboard with a touchdown run from Regan Wright after she set her team up in the red zone with a pair of breakaway runs on pitches. Addi Forsman tied the game with the two-point kick.
Neither team scored in a defensive battle of a fourth quarter, setting up overtime. Each team had a chance from the three-yard line and the senior/freshman team came up with a huge stop with the game on the line.
Wright iced the game, powering into the endzone and giving the senior/freshman team a 9-8 win. Wright was undoubtedly the player of the game, pushing through tackles and using the open field to her advantage.
“We weren’t going to take a loss,” Wright said, “We just knew we were going to win from the start.”
The star defensive player of the senior/freshman team, senior Baylee Frank, felt the adrenaline rush of the game and helped push her team to win.
“We didn’t give up. We just kept pushing, and it resulted in us winning. There wasn’t any point in the game where we thought we would lose,” said Frank.
Frank explained that the girls’ confidence and their coaches’ help really made them win.
