Central’s senior team poses following their 22-12 victory over the juniors in 2024’s homecoming powderpuff game.
Champaign Central’s girls senior and junior classes faced off in their annual powderpuff flag football game at Central’s McKinley Field on Wednesday, September 18th, 2024. This year’s uniforms for the two teams were black jerseys with pink lettering for the juniors, and pink jerseys with pink lettering for the seniors. After the juniors rallied up the crowd with two unanswered touchdowns, the seniors staged a comeback to win the game 22-12.
Central junior captain Khalia Williams and Central senior captain Alex Parastaran partake in a rock paper scissors battle, rather than a simple coin toss, in order to determine the first possession of the game.
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Junior running back Izzy Roundtree evades capture from senior lineman Allie Tucker in the first play of the game.
Junior wide receiver Khalia Williams catches the ball over senior Alex Parastaran to run for the touchdown on the second play of Central’s powderpuff game.
Central juniors celebrate their touchdown on the opening drive of this year’s powderpuff game.
Senior running back Maya McCaffrey takes off with the ball in the opening offensive play for the seniors.
Senior running back Maya McCaffrey tumbles head first over junior Evie O’Brien in the opening offensive play for the seniors.
Senior Julia Bilsbury fumbles the ball handed from Amina Robinson, resulting in a loss in yards for the seniors on the play.
Junior Sarah Donahoe blocks the attempted reception by senior Amina Robinson in the first quarter of this year’s powderpuff game.
Senior head coach George Rouse speaks with the team during a timeout following their first quarter woes in this year’s powderpuff game. “We gotta get the ball to our athletes in space,” answered Rouse in a late game interview. “Just get it out wide, get it going.”
Senior assistant coach Cale Helfer crumples up his hat and yells in frustration at Alex Parastaran following a missed catch which resulted in a turnover for the seniors.
Junior quarterback Ryleigh Watson is snapped the ball for the first play of their second drive in the fourth quarter.
Junior receiver Khalia WIlliams takes off from the seniors defense after her catch on the junior’s second drive.
Junior receiver Khalia Williams looks back at fallen defensive seniors as she runs for her team’s second touchdown in the first quarter.
The juniors celebrate another touchdown in the first half as the seniors faced a 12-0 deficit in this year’s powderpuff game.
Senior running back Julia Bilsbury takes off downfield with the ball as the seniors attempt to score on their second drive of the game.
Bilsbury’s flag goes through the air behind her after being ripped off by Sarah Donahoe of the juniors.
Senior quarterback Alex Parastaran hurls the ball over junior defensive player Kara Ficek during the second drive of the game for the seniors.
Junior players pose for the camera alongside head coach Artem Pichshuk (bottom) during a timeout in the second quarter.
Senior quarterback Alex Parastaran throws for a sideways pass at Amina Robinson during the second quarter.
Senior Bridget Cassady looks down for a path to take towards the end zone in the second quarter.
Senior Bridget Cassady bolts towards the end zone as senior coaches cheer her on behind. “I got everybody celebrating me, so that was nice” answered Cassady on the touchdown. “We have a bunch of plays… It looks like that one worked.”
Senior Maya McCaffrey falls just barely into the end zone to render the two point conversion good for the seniors and end the second quarter on a high note for the senior team.
Senior Kaitlyn Helm runs with her eyes closed in the right direction with the ball on the first play of the third quarter. Since the juniors won the rock paper scissors battle, they elected to start the game off with the ball, resulting in the seniors beginning the second half with the ball.
Junior linebacker Alice Bell holds with both hands onto the belt of senior Kaitlyn Helm, eventually breaking Helm’s flag belt and knocking them both onto the ground.
Senior Kaitlyn Helm lands flat onto the ground after having her belt ripped off by junior Alice Bell.
Helm jogs to the sideline with her snapped flag belt, remaining out of the game until she found a way to tie it around herself a few plays later.
Senior quarterback Alex Parastaran runs with the ball towards the sideline in an attempt to evade junior Kara Ficek.
Senior Julia Bilsbury frantically tosses the ball into the air as junior Halle Roberts attempts to pull her to the ground.
Junior Ava Clark holds senior Kara Charney’s flag high into the air as she’s encircled by a barrage of juniors with the ball caught from Bilsbury.
Senior Amina Robinson (left) makes it away from the juniors towards the end zone to put the score in favor of the seniors in the second half.
Robinson celebrates with Amari Rhone after also catching the two point conversion inside the end zone to give the seniors a 16-12 lead in the third quarter of this year’s powderpuff game. “It felt amazing, just love being out here with the energy and the flow” remarked Robinson. “I felt like we made our best at the practices we had, it was hard to get a time for everyone.”
Senior assistant coaches Dawson Caldwell (left) and Ashton Chau (right) look towards the field as the seniors take their defense out on the junior squad.
Junior quarterback Hiba Abudayeh tosses the ball high into the air just before she could be sacked by senior linemen.
Senior Amari Rhone intercepts Abudayeh’s throw mid-air, with no juniors nearby to block her.
Senior head coach George Rouse sets out the offensive game plan for the senior squad following Amari Rhone’s interception.
Senior quarterback Alex Parastaran heads off with the ball with junior linebackers shortly behind.
Juniors Ellie Crompton (left) and Halle Roberts (right) knock senior Alex Parastaran to the ground for a senior first down.
Junior and Senior players line up for the snap in this year’s powderpuff game at McKinley Field.
Junior quarterback Ryleigh Watson tosses the ball over the senior defensive line in the fourth quarter.
Ryleigh Watson chucks the ball into the air over senior Julia Bilsbury.
Khalia Williams catches the ball midair while surrounded by senior defensive players near the 50 yard line in the fourth quarter.
Junior head coach Artem Pichshuk looks on towards the offense before the snap during the fourth quarter at McKinley Field. When asked about the game plan for the junior squad, Pichshuk stated, “Be Physical, strike hard, catch the ball, and score touchdowns.”
Pichshuk looks on as senior Bridget Cassady runs off with the interception. When asked about when plays don’t go according to plan for the juniors, Pichshuk answered, “It’s always next play, I mean we messed up one play, so the next play we gotta score and do better.”
Senior head coach George Rouse (left) and Artem Pichshuk (right) debate on how to continue the game in the late fourth quarter following a lengthy injury timeout, alongside the departure of many junior athletes for the NHS induction ceremony that same evening.
Senior Maya McCaffrey looks behind her as she darts towards the end zone for the final touchdown of the night late in the fourth quarter. Asked for her thoughts on the game afterwards, McCaffrey remarked, “After our little incident, we just had to come back strong and win.”
Seniors Alex Parastaran (left) and Maya McCaffrey (right) hold up “W” signs following the seniors 22-12 victory over the juniors in this year’s powderpuff game. “JuniorK,” said McCaffrey for her final comment on the game.
Hello, my name is Adam Edwards (Class of 2025) and I am the Opinions Editor with The Champaign Chronicle. I began writing articles with The Chronicle in August of 2023, and assumed the Opinions Editor position in Janurary 2024. Feel free to check out the links below, where you can find my photography website and email.
Comments (1)
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Teacher Choi • Oct 1, 2024 at 3:49 pm
Such great photos! I could imagine the last one being a quote to wrap up a standard sports article.