Trading in her pom poms for football cleats, senior Ashlyn Thompson went from cheerleader to football player to play in the annual Powderpuff Football game Nov. 2.

 Powderpuff football flips the script of the conventional football matchup, putting all-girl teams together to compete for the bragging rights of being named champions. Teams are made up of all seniors and have a male coach who organizes team practices to prepare for the big day.

 Thompson, who plays soccer as well, was on team Blitz Babes, coached by baseball player Logan Catton.

 “Baseball players [know] how to coach from Coach Queck,” Thompson said. “They are used to being hardcore coached, so they are used to discipline and know how to discipline us too.”

 As for her team, Thompson believed the many athletes they recruited will lead them to victory.

 “We are all on sports,” Thompson said. “Cheer, soccer, and some other sports.”

 As for their weaknesses, Thompson thought her team would have a problem getting serious.

 “Sometimes they think it is all funny since we are all friends, but then we might [also] get worked up against other players,” Thompson said.

 The Blitz Babes were joined by six other student teams and one teacher team.

 Another team, We Tried, had a connection to baseball from their coach Hornet pitcher Will McEntire.

 “I try and take stuff from [Coach Queck] and use it,” McEntire said. “I tell my players about work ethic and giving it your all.”

 “Giving it your all” is the message team We Tried took to heart.

 “My teams give it their best, even though they are not the most athletic,” McEntire said.

 Beyond just baseball, players and coaches from all teams compete in a variety of different sports. However, for team Just Give Us the Trophy, team coach Andrew Hayes has plenty of experience on the football field playing for the Hornets. Just Give Us the Trophy’s team captain Xyxyance Allen found Hayes’ experience helpful for their team.

 “He’s a good player himself, so he teaches us what he does when he has a game,” Allen said.

 Allen is also an athlete on the Hornet track team, and she hoped her speed and competitive drive would help her.

 Although Just Give Us the Trophy is not completely made of athletes, many people on the team play other sports.

 “Our biggest weakness is not everyone on our team are athletes, but our strength is that a good majority of us are,” Allen said.

 Hayes is not the only Hornet football player to be coaching on the sideline. He is joined by quarterback Ren Hefley.

 Hefley’s team, Abusement Park, was led on the field by team captain Kristin Garner.

 “We definitely have a very strong team speed wise,” Garner said. “We have a lot of people on track and soccer who are very athletic.”

 Other than just speed, Abusement Park also has a tight bond with one another.

 “We are able to read off each other and our passing game is also pretty good,” Garner said.

 With many athletes, Garner believed her team’s weakness would be becoming overly competitive.

 “We are very competitive, so we were hard on ourselves for not having a good practice,” Garner said.

 Garner found it helpful to have a quarterback as a coach.

 “From a receiver standpoint, [Hefley] is really able to show [us] what the play [should look like],” Garner said. “But he also teaches us to think on the spot if something go wrong.”

 Vicious Vixens, coach Sean Morgan said “the team is only looking to get dubs.”

 “We have a lot of [players] that can catch,” Morgan said. “I feel like we also have some speed.”

 Much like the other teams, the Vicious Vixens used a number of student-athletes in hopes of beating their competition.

 “They will definitely have experience with the physicality,” Morgan said. “Being in shape also helps with being able to stay in a whole game.”

 Team Your Mom was coached by Hunter Ulmer and led by Maggie Laws.

 “We are all very strong-willed,” Laws said. “We all have a good mindset and we are all really excited.”

 Laws runs track and hopes her skills will be able to help her while playing running back.

 “Hopefully, I am able to just outrun everybody,” Laws said.

 With all the teams competing, it would be a late-joining team with only five players who would take home the trophy: Dominators, coached by Latavion Scott.

 “Our game plan was mainly focused on the run,” Scott said. “[Our quarterback] Kayla [Walker] is extremely athletic, and nobody can stop her.”

 Defensively, the team had to adjust with only five players.

 “Us coaches decided we needed to uses a zone defense so we could cover certain areas,” Scott said. “It works out pretty fine for us, even seven against five.”

 Scott reinforced his team, telling them “they know they are the best.”

 “Once they know that they are the best, they know they can’t be [beaten] and it set the standards real high for them,” Scott said. “We knew we weren’t going to get beat.”