ORR speeds past Wareham in powderpuff football

Nov 27, 2019

WAREHAM — According to players on Wareham’s powderpuff football team, the keys to beating Old Rochester Regional High School on Nov. 27 would have been running the ball, good defense, and communicating, but ultimately the Bulldogs proved to be too quick for Wareham to handle.

The annual “powderpuff” matchup gives girls from both schools a chance to play on the gridiron in a flag football game consisting of two twenty-minute halves. This year, Old Rochester dominated with a 40-0 victory, led by the blinding speed of soccer and track standout Meg Hughes.

Soccer player Grace Greany scored the first touchdown of the game on ORR’s first possession with about 15 minutes left in the first half.

With the help of interceptions on defense, solid passing from quarterback Jill Higgins, two point conversions, and an impressive three touchdowns from Hughes, the Bulldogs finished the half with a 28-0 lead.

“They’re dissecting our defense,” senior football player, and Wareham’s Powderpuff Coach Khai Delgado said at the beginning of the second half.

Despite efforts to adjust, the second half was similar to the first, with Greany and Hughes both crossing the endzone again.

Wareham’s defense was able to thwart both of ORR’s two-point conversion attempts in the second half (there were no field goals in the powderpuff game) but their offense was unable to respond, and Old Rochester shut out the home team 40-0.

While he wasn’t able to coach his team to a win, Delgado said that the game was all about having fun anyway, and that he enjoyed stepping off of the football field, and being able to coach from the sidelines for a change.

“It’s fun being a coach for a day,” he said.

ORR’s Hughes, a senior who placed 23rd in the 400 meter hurdles in the New Balance Nationals meet last spring, attributed her  four touchdowns in the powderpuff game to her speed.