Tiger’s 2025 Powerpuff Recap

Stories by Gavin Bartolome, Christianne Duley, & Owen Hou
Staff Writers

Photos by Emiko Essmiller, Zoe Chen, Sunny (Sunhye) Choi, Madeline Madrigal, & Mac Shropshire
Photography Editor, & Staff Photographers

Powerpuff Assembly leads up to 2025 Powerpuff Game

ASB hosted the annual Powerpuff Assembly on Friday, Feb. 21, encouraging students to attend the flag football Powerpuff Game the same night between SPHS juniors and seniors.

To begin the assembly, junior Cinbie Chang sang her rendition of the national anthem to a gym filled with students either wearing white in support of the juniors and black in support of the seniors. Senior class vice president Samuel Whitman and junior class vice president Baron Schroff then passionately voiced their support for their respective grades. After regaining composure, the duo introduced the Winter Guard performance.

In the spirit of the strength of football players, a tug of war class competition followed, with the sophomores defeating the freshman and the seniors defeating the juniors. Junior Varsity and Varsity Yell performed after.

Next, a scavenger hunt was held to embody the quick thinking of football, resulting in a tie between juniors and sophomores. Dance then performed a routine to the song “CRAZY” by LE SSERAFIM.

Senior Commissioner of Athletics Abigail Errington interviewed junior and senior Powerpuff coaches and some players on their upcoming game, building excitement for the game. Junior Varsity Song, Junior Varsity Flags, and Varsity Song followed up with their consecutive performances.

A football toss served as the final class competition, with the juniors coming in with a win. The assembly closed with the alma mater. The Powerpuff Game was held that night from 7–9 p.m.

Zoe Chen | Senior Samuel Whitman and junior Baron Shroff open the Powerpuff assembly

Sunny Choi | The seniors play tug-of-war against the juniors.

Mac Shropshire | SPHS Color Guard performance at the Powerpuff Assembly.

Zoe Chen | Junior Senya Dorny (center) and four other juniors during the assembly's juniors vs. seniors game of tug of war

Emiko Essmiller | Dance performance.

Emiko Essmiller | SPHS band performs at the beginning of the assembly.

Mac Shropshire | SPHS Band members at Powerpuff Assembly.

Emiko Essmiller | Juniors Cayna Ghaly & Claire Shanley celebrate after winning a class competition.

Emiko Essmiller | Color Guard performs "Lights" by Ellie Goulding.

Zoe Chen | Pep performs a stunt at the assembly

Madeline Madrigal | Color Guard performance.

Madeline Madrigal | All in the assembly stand for the pledge of allegiance.

Mac Shropshire | SPHS Dance performance at the Powerpuff Assembly.

Zoe Chen | Advanced Dance performs Quin Sokolowski's (far left) choregraphy to the song "Crazy" by Le Serafim

Sunny Choi | The seniors compete in a class competition against the juniors.

Emiko Essmiller | SPHS Varsity Pep performance.

Zoe Chen | Freshman Sarah Fang and Pep JV flags perform during the assembly

Mac Shropshire | SPHS Cheer sing the Alma Mater.

Juniors beat seniors 24-13 in annual Powerpuff game

The SPHS juniors and seniors celebrated their annual Powerpuff girls’ flag football game on Friday, Feb. 21, with the juniors winning 24-13 despite the seniors’ experience. Both teams, with the juniors in white and seniors in black, demonstrated well-knit camaraderie and teamwork, creating opportunities for touchdowns between the two defenses the entire game.

“At the beginning, we didn’t know each other very well, but we got to know each other really well during practice … working pretty hard for that same goal made us get to know each other, and by the end of it, it felt really cohesive,” junior Rose Vandevelde said.

The first quarter began with a stalemate between the juniors and seniors, with neither able to make any progress towards the end zone. After the struggle, however, senior Ava Conti intercepted the ball, setting up the senior team to take the lead near midfield. The seniors continued to charge forward; a pass from senior Emma Becerra to senior Natalie Kan from the 11-yard line scored the seniors the first points of the game. This placed the seniors in the lead 6-0. For the rest of the first quarter, neither team managed to break through the other’s defense.

The defense held strong on both ends going into the second quarter. Although the juniors made a small push, they later made negligible progress, sending the teams spiraling in a deadlock for progression. For several minutes, neither team gained more than 30 yards, turning over possession around midfield.

After countless turnovers, the juniors were the first to strike back. Weaving past the seniors’ disoriented defense, junior Senya Dorny broke into the end zone for a touchdown without an extra point. Building off of their momentum, the juniors used the remaining time of the second quarter to their advantage, trapping the seniors’ offense before slowly working their way forward. Eventually, the juniors made another touchdown by Vandevelde to end the second quarter with the juniors leading 12-6.

During halftime, a relay race hosted by ASB took place that involved different mini games, such as cup stacking. After the friendly festivities, onlookers waited anxiously for the third quarter to begin.

Junior Anna Kowal wasted no time, opening the third quarter by racing ahead of the seniors with a touchdown right out of the gates for a score of 18-6 in the juniors’ favor. However, both sides were frozen by the exceptional one-on-one defense, which prevented any major progression. After slowly wedging themselves into the juniors’ defense, senior Mia Leach made an unsuspecting touchdown. Senior Serena Lau continued to chip away at the juniors’ lead with an extra point they added to the touchdown, lessening the junior lead 18-13. With the seniors cutting the gap down to five points, the outcome of the game remained uncertain.

As the final quarter began, both teams, again, stood at a standstill. With some time, however, the juniors discovered a gap in the senior defense that they took advantage of. After intercepting the ball, the juniors were put at midfield, where Dorny ran a touchdown in from 40 yards out. This made the score 24-13, with the juniors in the lead. As the quarter continued to progress, both teams were unable to make any headway, ending the Powerpuff game with a white victory 24-13.

Overall, the night was a celebration of school spirit and the junior and senior girls at SPHS.

“You know, despite what the score was, I think it went really well. I know everyone played really well,” senior Coach DJ Ebner said. “I’m really proud of everyone that came out and played practice with us. I thought it went well.”

Emiko Essmiller | Junior Cayna Ghaly looks for a pass.

Mac Shropshire | Junior team, lead by Baron Shroff, celebrates after win over the Seniors.

Emiko Essmiller | Juniors Anna Kowal and Senya Dorny.

Emiko Essmiller | Junior Senya Dorny runs for a touchdown.

Mac Shropshire | Junior Catelyn Hodson, and friends.

Emiko Essmiller | Juniors in the crowd cheer for team.

Mac Shropshire | Senior Powerpuff players left to right: - Olivia Franco, Elena Wilds, and Andrea Becerra

Mac Shropshire | Powerpuff Senior Team Coaches from left to right: DJ Ebner, John Bruce, James Dowd, and David Eisenburg

Emiko Essmiller | Junior Rose Vandevelde runs avoids getting her flag pulled.

Mac Shropshire | Junior #20 Anna Kowal, runs down field to score a touchdown.

Emiko Essmiller | The Juniors celebrate their win.

Mac Shropshire | Senior Annika Selsby snaps the ball to Senior quarterback Emma Becerra.

Emiko Essmiller | The Juniors try to stop a Senior touchdown.

Emiko Essmiller | From left to right: Lily Shaffer, Kaitlyn Lowstuter, Willow Baughman

Mac Shropshire | SPHS junior team celebrate's after win at 2025 Powerpuff game.

Mac Shropshire | Seniors from left to right: James Dowd, India Garcia-Robb, Ruby Shimamoto, Natalie Kan, Annika Selsby, Kezia Gavlak, Jack Miller, John Bruce, and Cameron Park.