The Marblehead High senior girls have been training for weeks to get ready for their annual Powderpuff football game against rival Swampscott. Last Saturday morning, Nov. 23, at Swampscott’s Blocksidge Field, their hard work paid off with a 28-12 win to make it two in a row over their Swampscott peers.
They defeated the Big Blue last year, 21-14. It was Jacqui Bouchard’s last game as the team’s advisor after an 18-year run. It also broke a two-game losing streak. Swampscott won in 2022, 21-13 after shutting out the Magicians in 2021, 10-0.
As the rain poured down on Blocksidge Field, the Marblehead junior girls were decked out in
Marblehead gear and face paint, while waving flags and blowing whistles from the stands. Parents, friends and teachers also filled the stands to cheer on the team.
After the 10 a.m. kickoff, it didn’t take long for Marblehead to score the first points of the game. By halftime, Marblehead was leading 14-0.
Marblehead began the second half with a 60-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by soccer and track star Ava Machado, but Swampscott wasn’t about to give up. They were able to trim the deficit to nine, 21-12. But the Marblehead girls remained in control, while scoring one more touchdown to account for the final score.
For the record, star softball catcher Luka Bornhorst led her teammates in scoring with two touchdowns.
Sierra Leinberry and Machado again each chipped in with one touchdown.
“This game was awesome,” said James Bickell, one of the team’s offensive coaches. “I’m so proud of these girls for turning in such an amazing performance. It was an honor to coach them.”
Juliet Burchfield, Sydney Shull, Paige Tredwell, Sophia Johns, Ramona Gillett and Hannah O’Brien were the 2024 team captains. According to first-year team advisor Caitlin Fields, Burchfield, Shull and Tredwell were primarily the offensive leaders, while Johns, Gillett and O’Brien led on defense. They each took turns as the special teams’ leaders.
The 2024 Powderpuff winning coaches were James MacKenzie and Logan Doody, who headed up the defense; state championship hockey player and captain Kyle Hart and Bickell called the shots on offense; and Gavin Lepler was the special teams mentor. Track star Will Cerrutti was the team manager.
The Magicians came into the game confident. Though the teachers strike briefly interrupted their daily practices, O’Brien said she wasn’t worried. “I truly believe throughout the past few days before the game, we really caught up,” she said. “All the girls on this team worked hard to get this win.”
The team practiced twice daily at either Piper Field and Gatchell’s over the past week, which allowed them to make up for lost time that was caused by the teachers strike.
Fields rejoined the girls for these practices. Before that, parents stepped in to supervise the team’s effort.
“I’m just incredibly proud of these girls,” said the first-year advisor. “This hasn’t been an easy season for them, but they tackled the bad weather and other challenges with confidence and positivity, and I think that showed on the field (on Saturday) against Swampscott.”
O’Brien added: “It was pretty difficult that week (when the teachers went out on strike). But we had parents supervise the practices. But we (still) couldn’t use the field, and didn’t have access to our (equipment).”
In other words, they had to fend for themselves, and were able to persevere through it all. Fortunately, these challenges were quickly resolved, allowing the team to take their practices back to the next level.
The coaches then focused much more time on scrimmaging and real game situations to get ready for last Saturday’s exhibition. But in the end, it all paid over with a win over their rivals.
When asked about the best parts of being on the team, both O’Brien and MHS student Gavin Lepler, who again was the special teams coach, agreed that it was seeing the friendships that were formed in such a short period of time.
Lepler went on to say: “It’s really nice seeing these girls get together (the last few weeks), who wouldn’t usually be together.”
This game also annually raises money for a designated charity, and this year all proceeds are going toward treatments for River Walker, a 3-year-old local boy with medulloblastoma, which is a form of brain and spinal cord cancer. His mom is a Swampscott High graduate, and his grandmother lives in Marblehead. Adding a personal touch to the whole day, River did the coin toss at the beginning of the game.
Online donations for River may still be made by going to riverwalk2024.com, and look for the link to his GoFundMe page.
The Powderpuff roster included Taum Amberik, Julia Aneshansley, Tonia Auerbach, Maggie Beauchesne, Ella Benedetto, Finn Bergquist, Avery Black, Olivia Bloodgood, Maria Bondarenko, Laura Botnaru, Brooke Brown, Carley Brown, Juliet Burchfield, Elise Burchfield, Brinleigh Callahan, Savannah Caruso, Abigail Childs, Ella Commoss, SAmantha Cooper, Campbell Crane, Caroline Crane, Caroline Crosby, Adelyn Cruickshank, Rachel Delisle, Annabelle Drayer, Courtney Duffy, Amalie Dye, Maddie Ferris, Paige Fletcher, Madison Forbes, Reese Friedman, Gabby Hendy, Ramona Gillett, Lani Gilmore, Olivia Goldwater, Abagail Goodwin, Sarah Gorham, Jamie Haliotis, Maxine Hall, Raine Hamilton, Olivia Hodgkinson, Courtney Hoguet, Olivia Homan, Aria Hoover, Sophia Johns, Nina Johnson, Arielle Kahn, Anya Kane, Eliza Kay, Chloe Kennedy, Courtesy Klocker, Ava Laham, Valerie LeBlanc, Sierra Leinberry, Luka Bornhorst, Ava Machado, Iyla Mcgovern, Sona Miller, Adelaide Mooney, Bridgett Moss, Lilah Nagel, Hannah O’Brien, Megan Parkman, Ellie Payson, Abby Peach, Reese Pignato, Maren Potter, Callie Prince, Rory Raitto, Evie Riegle, Sophie Robinson, Caitlyn Ryan, Aeva Salem, Sydney Shull, Lilah Siegel, Gretchen Smith, Jordyn Stritzke, Aoife Sullivan, Carter Sullivan, Tailia Tanger, Cheyenne Tarasuik, Main Tiffany, Paige Tredwell, Jack Whalen, Sydney Woodward, Genevieve Wykes, Morgan Zion and Emma Zurn.
The Powderpuff coaches were: Gavin Lepler, James Bickell, Kyle Hart, James Mackenzie, Logan Doody. Will Cerrutti was team manager.
The Current’s Joe McConnell contributed reporting to this article.
