In bringing back the Powder Puff Classic with a new wrinkle, Cheshire High School girls treated football fans to a thrilling finish on Wednesday at Alumni Field. In the school’s first inter-school game, the junior class came away with a 13-12 win over the senior class, but the victors had to make a late defensive stand before celebrating on the field.
Trailing 13-12, the seniors ignited their final drive with a 54-yard pass from quarterback Ariana Luz-Rosado to Emma Watkinson. With Watkinson racing down the sideline toward the end zone, junior Gabby Cole made a key flag pull to put the ball down at the 6-yard line.
From there, the junior defense tightened up to stop the seniors on four plays. With three seconds left and the ball positioned on the 15-yard line, the juniors clinched the victory on an incomplete pass.
The flag-football game was competitive from start to finish. In the opening half, the seniors scored first on a 4-yard touchdown scamper by Liney Dutchyshyn, but the juniors answered with a 17-yard touchdown run by Sophia Kuhlthau. Since both teams didn’t convert on their point after touchdown attempts, the game was tied 6-6 at intermission.
The juniors returned to take the lead for good with 23:32 remaining. After an audible at the line of scrimmage, quarterback Sophie Braylyan handed the ball off to Kuhlthau, who then spotted a wide-open Ellie Rockoff and hit her for a 15-yard touchdown. On what would be the eventual winning point (13-6), Julia DePalma made the PAT.
The seniors came back to cut the deficit with 17:14 left. On a deflected pass from Rosado, Dutchyshyn adjusted to make the catch for a 15-yard touchdown. Since the seniors missed the PAT, the juniors still led 13-12.
After holding off the seniors on the game-ending drive, the juniors were presented with a plaque to mark their inaugural victory.
The scoring summary is listed below.
First Half
*4-yard touchdown run by Dutchyshyn (20:52) 6-0, Seniors
PAT missed
*17-yard touchdown run by Kuhlthau (14:13) 6-6, Tie
PAT missed
Second Half
*15-yard touchdown from Kuhlthau to Ellie Rockoff (23:32) 13-6, Juniors
PAT by DePalma was good
*15-yard touchdown from Rosado to Dutchyshyn (17:14) 13-12, Juniors
PAT missed
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