Every year, SBHS senior and junior girls face off in a time honored, fierce game of football. Although, traditionally, the senior girls win, they usually don’t win twice. This year, they did. 

“I had a lot of faith in my team that we were going to be able to put up a good fight,” said SBHS senior and co-captain Laura-Marianie Bassette.

Her faith didn’t disappoint. In a nail-biting game that went into overtime, the senior girls ultimately pulled out a victory with a score of 21-14.

“I was not 100% sure we would win, but in the end we were able to put to use what we went over in practice and were able to win,” said Bassette.

For three days, the seniors practiced throwing the ball and reviewing plays. All of the senior players had been on the junior team that had beat the seniors last year. 

“Last year, the juniors, being us, practiced with an empty water bottle and this year we finally had balls to practice with,” said senior and fellow team captain Alexandra Gonzales

Flags were unavailable, so this year’s participants were forced to play a game of two-hand touch. They were also only given half of the field to play on. This resulted in a less-than-optimal game for players. 

“It was like a big game of tag, instead of flag football,” said Gonzales. “Which made it way harder for both sides.”

On the sidelines, the senior boys performed standard cheers with their not-so-standard deep voices and hairy legs sticking out of their pleated skirts.  Although the players were supposed to be the focal point of the event, jump lines, tumbling, and synchronized dancing were a comic relief to players and spectators alike. 

“You weren’t able to stay serious when you looked at the guys trying to cheer,” said junior Leann Alkobi.

Though the game was brief, 30 minutes, the score tells a different story. In the first ten minutes, both teams scored a touchdown, tying the game to 7-7. Unlike traditional games, a touchdown counted as seven points instead of six.

By the second half of the game, both teams scored an additional touchdown. At the sound of the buzzer, with a score of 14-14, the game was kicked into overtime. 

“The administration was too competitive to end on a tie,” said Gonzales. “So they were like: ‘We’ll just keep on going until one team gets the point’.”

The seniors prevailed and successfully scored the final touchdown, winning the game. 

Whatever the outcome was, it was all fun and games for every player. 

 “I chose to play because I love flag football,” said Bassette. “Being able to be a part of that for school spirit made it all the more fun to do.”