Using a number of misdirection plays on the ground, the Douglas High School junior girls rumbled to a 28-18 victory over the seniors at the school's annual Powder Puff football game Friday night.
Sarah Hartley had touchdown runs of 11, 7 and 9 yards, Sam Ensminger had a breakaway 40-yard touchdown run and quarterback Bridget Maestretti ran in two two-point conversions to lead the juniors to the win.
After stifling the senior offense on the opening drive of the game, the juniors kept the ball primarily on the ground and drove all the way down to the 7-yard line before the seniors came up with a stop.
Junior Madison Vander Byl broke up passes on two consecutive plays on the seniors' next drive, setting the juniors back up with the ball.
Katie Buffo, Marisa Bertolone-Smith, Maestretti, Ensminger and Hartley all took turns carrying the ball to bring the juniors to the 15-yard line.
Maestretti hit Danielle Munk for a four-yard gain, setting up Hartley's 11-yard run to put the juniors up 6-0. Maestretti took the ball in on a keeper for the 8-0 lead.
The seniors drove down into the red zone on the next drive on passes from Dana Pardee to Alicia Sturgess and Megan Myers. A 15-yard carry from Kaelie Hall set the seniors up near the goal line but junior Sara Phillips knocked down a pass and the juniors were able to hold before halftime.
The juniors opened the second half with another scoring drive as Bertelone-Smith carried the ball 20 yards and got another 15 yards tacked on after being tackled at the end of the play.
Allie Hughes carried the ball three yards and Hartley scored her second touchdown of the game on a seven-yard gallop up the middle for the 14-0 lead.
The seniors came back on the next drive as Sturgess slipped behind the defensive backfield and caught a ball lofted from Pardee up the middle, taking it 40 yards for the score.
The run failed, leaving the score at 14-6 in favor of the juniors.
The juniors came right back as Buffo, Hughes, Ensminger and Maestretti all took turns running the ball before Hartley punched in her third score of the day.
Hartley appeared to be stopped in the backfield on the play, but circled around to the opposite side and received a nice block from Buffo at the 2-yard line to spring into the end zone.
Senior Rachel Van Roy broke out for a 40-yard touchdown run on the next drive to make it 20-12, but Ensminger answered with a 40-yard run up the middle of her own on the next drive.
Maestretti again kept the ball and ran it in for the two-point conversion, giving the juniors the 28-12 lead.
Morgan LeFever took the ball 13 yards down the sideline on the next drive to bring the seniors back to within 28-18, but the juniors were able to run out the clock on the next drive for the win.
