Pink team pulls out Powder Puff win

By Sam Waller

The ladies of the Albany High School classes of 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 showed that football isn’t purely a male domain Sunday, May 1, with an entertaining Powder Puff game at Nail Stadium.

Sarah Cotter scored two touchdowns in the final minutes to help the Pink team, composed of seniors and sophomores, to a  76-71 victory over the Purple, made up of juniors and freshmen.

The event was sponsored by The Feed Store Student Council and was a success on several levels, Feed Store director Tisha Wilkins said, including the avoidance of injury.

“We definitely expressed concern to everyone to keep safe,” Wilkins said. “I think it all worked out well, and the girls had a great time. The boys did, too.”

The event was delayed a week because of rain, which created some scheduling conflicts and caused some changes, Wilkins said.

“We weren’t able to have (PA announcer) John Tate or the band there,” she said. “We had Sydney Key fill in announcing and she did a fabulous job. We still had great attendance, and the kids were very pleased and excited.”

Wilkins said she’s looking forward to making the game an annual event.

“We’re hoping to make it something that we can do every year,” she said. “Given the feedback, I think we’ll continue it.”

The game saw 10 lead changes as both offenses heated up in the second quarter and never cooled down. Quarterbacks Robin Lucas of the Pink and Briley Tabor of the Purple each accounted for 10 touchdowns. Lucas passed for seven and ran for three, while Tabor had five scoring passes and five TD runs.

Tabor said the Purple offense jelled quickly despite having no practices before the game.

“We got together maybe 15 minutes before we played,” said Tabor, who also caught one pass and punted once for 34 yards. “I think we showed a lot of skill, and some of us might even show up for football practice next year.”

Cotter finished with three touchdowns for the Pink. Her leaping catch in the back of the end zone with 1:05 remaining put the Pink ahead to stay and was followed 20 seconds later by a pick-six that clinched the victory.

In a week where Cotter won Albany’s first tennis state championship on Wednesday and qualified for the state track meet on Friday, Sunday’s performance was a highlight.

“The (game-winning) touchdown made the week complete,” Cotter said.

Kiana Roberson also caught two touchdown passes for the pink, including a 40-yarder from Ana Balliew on the first snap of the game.

Savannah Hobbs, Susie Cormack, Kam Browning, and Isabel Alvarez also had TD receptions with Roberson and Alvarez each scoring a two-point conversion.

Lucas completed passes to 12 different receivers with Clara Holson, Caitlan Lee, Tristen Brown, Balliew, Brooklyn Abbate, and Avery Kleiner among the receivers.

Holson joined Cotter in making an interception.

The Purple relied more on Tabor’s running, but also moved the ball through the air. Abi Hale and Gracie Price had two TD catches apiece, while Ella Webb and Presley Green each caught one TD pass. Leddie Leech also caught a pass.

Carisa Barrera threw for the Purple’s final score with three seconds left.

Chloe Daugherty and Chelsy Parsons had interceptions for the Purple defense.