About three months into her Arlington stay, foreign exchange student Elise Visser found herself at the center of a powder puff football game Friday night.
“We don't have American football back home, so, when I heard about this, I thought I just had to do it,” said the AHS senior, who is from the Netherlands. “It was very confusing and very weird for me, but it turned out very fun.”
The entire senior class enjoyed itself as it defeated the juniors 39-18, improving to 2-0 during its two-year stint apart of the annual sophomore class fundraiser.
“We were really hoping to win as seniors because the seniors have a losing streak,” Paige Kraemer said, wearing eye black under her eyes.
“I think we all just really wanted to beat the juniors,” Cassidy Arp added. “That's really where my mind was.”
The 12th-graders did, building a 20-6 halftime lead and winning by 21. Chase Andersen scored her classes first touchdown before Arp picked off a junior pass and scored on a throw from Kate Miller on the ensuing drive.
“It proves you have really good defense,” Arp said of the interception.
Keelianne Green scored the juniors' first touchdown on a long Kiersten Taylor pass, but the seniors had an answer. Andersen scored on another long run before Hailey Brenn added the two-point conversion with just 1.4 seconds left in the first half.
Andersen, Kaylie Erwin and Brenn scored second-half senior touchdowns, while Taylor notched two for the juniors.
“It's pretty high up there,” Kraemer said, laughing when asked how she ranked Friday's win among her high school accomplishments.
While the AHS seniors and juniors battled on the field, they came together for a group photo after it was done. Visser and junior snapper Jazmyn Parr got into their fair share of on-field confrontations, but hugged before leaving the field.
“We're really good friends,” Visser said. “But, on the field, we're not friends. We're enemies.”
The senior may be new to the sport, but her competitive nature showed well in a winning effort.
