Catasauqua and Northampton’s annual powder puff game came down to the wire and ended in a 34-34 tie when Catty’s Hailey Jenkins weaved through the Northampton defense for a 2-point conversion as time expired on a sunny but windy Sunday afternoon on Nov. 16 at Northampton.

“I faked going to my right, and then I threw the ball to Hailey, and then I actually saw Hailey going to the right, and then I turned around, and then I saw her going to my left somehow, and then I saw her in the end zone, so I was like, oh wow, I don’t know how she did that,” said Catty quarterback Makayla Bird. “It was definitely really exciting and everyone coming together to pull out the tie at the end, and not a win, but better than a loss.”

Seconds earlier, Jenkins rushed from deep in Rough Rider territory to the end zone, making the score, 34-32.

“Makayla pretended that she had the ball going to the right, and Hailey had the ball going to the left,” said Catasauqua coach Andrew Oswald. “That was the plan, yes. That was our last ditch effort with time running out, and we just had to run one more play.”

Northampton led 28-8 at halftime with three touchdowns from Sage Korpics and one by Grace Roberts on an interception.

“Sage Korpics is one of our best wide receivers and they couldn’t guard her. She’s very fast so every time she was open, I gave her the ball,” said Northampton quarterback Avery Deibert. “I feel like I’ve been preparing for this game since my freshman year, watching all the seniors doing it, coming to the games and watching it. It’s very fun. It’s an opportunity to be on the field and be how football players are. We practiced for the past three weeks and prepared hard. The coaches had plays. We prepared well.”

Shelby Haldeman had two touchdowns called back on penalties against Catty, but on the next play, Julia Harth scored for the Rough Riders in the first half.

“These girls practiced really hard so any play that I called, they knew how to run, which I would say in years past was probably not the case, so I felt really good with whatever I had called they would do it the right way, and it just happened to work out for us,” said Coach Oswald.

With a comfortable lead at halftime, the Konkrete Kids watched the halftime show, starring each team’s male cheerleaders.

“They got to enjoy the halftime show, and it was more about the festivity and being part of the Turkey Day game,” said Northampton coach Paryss Marshall. “A lot of these girls play sports, so it was one chance for them to play with other girls and to go out there and have fun. We had 35 girls and tried to play them all. We had to explain a little bit more in depth, but it was more about them having fun and getting them to lock-in.”

Catty cheerleader Sheamus Deibert motivated the Rough Riders with an impactful speech at halftime.

“Honestly, we took what he said genuinely seriously, and then we brought that momentum from what he gave us onto the field the next half, and then on almost every single drive, we scored,” said Bird.

Jenkins opened the second half with a touchdown, and Haldeman followed up with an interception and six more points for the Rough Riders.

Deibert scored for the K-Kids and kept Northampton ahead, 34-20, but another Jenkins touchdown and an interception by the speedy senior opened the door for a tie.

“It was super exciting, especially because it came down to that 2-point conversion,” said Coach Oswald. “We had to have it, and it looked like she was stopped three or four times and just found her way into the end zone.”

Although Northampton was counting on a victory, both teams ended the day with lifelong memories and a huge sense of accomplishment.

“There’s some things that we could’ve done better, defensively and offensively,” said Deibert, “but overall, we’re just grateful that we were able to be out here to play.”