This year’s homecoming week came to an abrupt end due to Hurricane Ian’s destruction over central Florida. As a result of this, the powderpuff game was one of the many activities that got moved to a later date. The football players and the cheerleaders alike have been putting in a lot of practice to make everything perfect for the game. 

“We work on the flag pulling, we work on our lineups, we work on our blitzing schemes,” said girls football coach, Nathan Capp. “For my offense, we basically work on specific running routes, specifically running routes blocking for my O-line.”

The cheerleaders have a routine to perform at halftime and there’s a lot of effort being put into perfecting it. They have been working on their routine in the cafeteria multiple times a week. 

Their coaches also put in a lot of time creating the routine. Unlike the football team having teachers as coaches, the cheerleaders have fellow students coach them. 

“It’s been such a fun experience teaching the boys the dance,” said senior Lauryn White, a student cheerleader. “We can’t wait for everybody to see it.” 

As hurricanes can be so unpredictable, it changed a lot of lives and caused disruptions in Florida and in nearby countries. 

“We’re still performing no matter what,” said senior cheerleader coach Maddie Rynearson. “They did not put in those hours of work for nothing.” 

One positive of delaying the game is that there’s now time for participants to practice. There was not a lot of time between the start of practices and the original time of the game. 

“A delay would definitely be beneficial for us,” said Rynearson. “There are a lot of imperfections in our routine that we could take extra time to make it as best as we can.”

In the end, the powderpuff game will be on Oct. 26, 2022. The event has been a crucial part of Oviedo homecoming tradition for many years and will continue to be this year, even with the delay from Hurricane Ian.