Heading into this year's Powder Puff football game against Northampton, Catasauqua was already at a slight disadvantage.

The Rough Riders' 15 players were just a fraction compared to nearly 80 for the Konkrete Kids. And Catasauqua quarterback Danielle Lilly was trying to overcome a sickness as well, and was able to recover just in time for the game.

And despite fighting until the game's final whistle, and a two-touchdown performance from Lilly, the Konkrete Kids defeated the Rough Riders 19-14 at Catasauqua High School's Alumni Field back on Nov. 17, which started off the Turkey Day festivities for the two towns.

"I did get sick for like a week, and I was down for a week," Lilly said. "I couldn't make practices, but I came back stronger than ever. I got all the plays down. We came out here determined to win."

"In the beginning of the year we really looked forward to it," tight end Shea O'Brien said. "We thought we were going to have a big turnout because they always do, and we thought a lot of people would play."

The game's friendly competition set up the upcoming annual Thanksgiving Day game between the two schools.

"It's because we get to play Northampton, and we don't get to play them in many sports," O'Brien said. "The rivalry makes it fun. Playing a sport that we never really played before, and getting to learn about it is fun. The Turkey Day game too is always fun."

Following a touchdown by the Konkrete Kids to open the game, the Rough Riders capitalized on their first drive with a 5-yard touchdown run from Lilly. Following the extra point by Lilly, the Rough Riders took a 7-6 lead with 11:31 to play in the first half.

That's the only lead they would hold in the game.

"We played as a team," Lilly said. "We didn't come out on top, but we did our best, and that's all you can ask for."

The Konkrete Kids scored two consecutive touchdowns on runs by Alison Horn and Leandra Sterner, and led 19-7 late in the third quarter.

But the Rough Riders refused to quit.

Lilly (who also plays softball and cheerleads for Catasauqua) and O'Brien began to develop a rhythm through the air late in the fourth quarter. And with 5:09 to play, Lilly found O'Brien for an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-14 in favor of Northampton. O'Brien, who also plays field hockey and softball, caught a 27-yard pass from Lilly earlier in the drive too.

"I was ready to get another touchdown," Lilly said. "I just threw it, and it was a nice throw. Shea ended up catching it, and it brought us all up."

"I felt like we needed a touchdown, and we needed to step up and get one in order to stay in the game," O'Brien said. "It made me really happy and proud of our team that we could stay in it and fight back.

Rachel Sell had a number of solid runs for the Rough Riders too, and broke a 56-yard run on the team's first offensive play. Hope Golden also got into the action out of the backfield for the Rough Riders.

"It was a really fun experience," O'Brien said. "The practices were fun, [and] we had really great coaches."