On Nov. 26, the annual Turkey Bowl took place. Eleven teams, consisting of juniors and seniors, played to win. Each team consisted of a minimum of seven female players and a maximum of three male players.
Teams this year were The Leftovers, Columbus Crusaders, Feastin’ Flock, Cranberry Crushers, Pilgrim Power, Turkz, Fear the Feathers, Turkey Stuffers. Turk 30, Poultry in Motion and Stuffin’ Stompers.
After a win last year, senior Triumph Kilmartin and her team, Pilgrim Power, went into the game with a positive outlook.
“I’m excited after coming back from a win last year, I am expecting a win today,” Kilmartin said. “I am excited to be outside for this event right before Thanksgiving, and I hope to see good sportsmanship.”
Round one:
The Leftovers versus Columbus Crusaders (Columbus Crusaders)
Feastin’ Flock versus Cranberry Crushers (Cranberry Crushers)
Pilgrim Power versus Turkz (Pilgrim Power)
Fear the Feathers versus Turkey Stuffers (Fear the Feathers)
Seniors Pilgrim Power coach Colton Chathams and Feastin’ Flock player Brandon Lyle both went into the game with confidence in their teams abilities.
“I think we are going to do great,” Chathams said. “I think we have a great shot at winning, and I am really excited.”
“I am just excited to be here, and I am feeling ready to play,” Lyle said. “We are playing great today, and I am feeling confident.”
Round two:
The Leftovers versus Turk 30 (The Leftovers)
Columbus Crusaders versus Poultry in Motion (Poultry in Motion)
Featin’ Flock versus Stuffin’ Stompers (Stuffin’ Stompers)
Cranberry Crushers versus Pilgrim Power (Pilgrim Power)
During a pause between games, senior Seth Goheen discussed the practices and pressures the team faced.
“We probably had one, maybe two, practices a week for the past month or so,” Goheen said. “We would just run our plays and talk about what was working and what was not, and we did a lot of drills like flag grabbing.”
Round three:
The Leftovers versus Turkz (The Leftovers)
Columbus Crusaders versus Fear the Feathers (Fear the Feathers)
Turkey Stuffers versus Turk 30 (Turkey Stuffers)
Poultry in Motion versus Stuffin’ Stompers (Poultry in Motion)
Junior Grace Long is participating in the Turkey Bowl for the first time. During the first rounds, she was pleased with her team, Pilgrim Power.
“My team is doing great,” Long said. “I think our biggest competition is the Turkey Stuffers.”
Round four:
Feastin’ Flock versus Poultry in Motion (Poultry in Motion)
Cranberry Crushers versus Turk 30 (Turk 30)
Pilgrim Power versus Turkey Stuffers (Turkey Stuffers)
Turkz versus Fear the Feathers (Fear the Feathers)
Senior CJ Romanowicz and his team, Stuffin’ Stompers, went into the game with a plan.
“I am feeling pretty good about this game because we have been practicing for a while, and we have a whole playbook,” Romanowicz said. “I am ready to run.”
Round five:
The Leftovers versus Stuffin’ Stompers (The Leftovers)
Columbus Crusaders versus Pilgrim Power (Pilgrim Power)
Feastin’ Flock versus Fear the Feathers (Fear the Feathers)
Cranberry Crushers versus Turkz (Cranberry Crushers)
Throughout the rounds, senior Stuffin’ Stompers player Karinna Wolfe stayed positive and stuck to the plans her team made.
“Our team is doing really well,” Wolfe said. “I think we’re sticking to our gameplan, which is good. For the most part, we’re not getting frustrated at each other, even though we’ve had some wins and some losses. I think we’re doing a fantastic job of building each other up, as well as other teams, like saying ‘good game’ when we’re done and doing a good job of keeping a good attitude.”
Round six:
The Leftovers versus Poultry in Motion (Poultry in Motion)
Columbus Crusaders versus Turk 30 (Turk 30)
Feastin’ Flock versus Turkey Stuffers (Turkey Stuffers)
Cranberry Crushers versus Stuffin’ Stompers (Cranberry Crushers)
Camille Krug, a junior player for the Leftovers, tried to stay positive even after her team faced losses.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Krug said. “I’m really tired, but I’m proud of how our team did. We did a lot better than I thought we were going to do.”
Round seven:
The Leftovers versus Pilgrim Power (Pilgrim Power)
Turkz versus Turkey Stuffers (Turkey Stuffers)
Fear the Feathers versus Poultry in Motion (Poultry in Motion)
Turk 30 versus Stuffin’ Stompers (Turk 30)
“I am excited to be able to do something fun with my friends before Thanksgiving break,” The Leftovers junior coach Julian Pringle said.
Round eight:
Columbus Crusaders versus Turkey Stuffers (Turkey Stuffers)
Cranberry Crushers versus Fear the Feathers (Fear the Feathers)
Pilgrim Power versus Turk 30 (Pilgrim Power)
Feastin’ Flock versus Turkz (Turkz
Senior Addisen McDonald played for Turkz. She remained hopeful for her team.
“I decided to participate because it is my senior year,” McDonald said. “We may not have won all of our games, but I still had a fun time with my friends.”
Round nine:
Cranberry Crushers versus Columbus Crusaders (Columbus Crusaders)
The Leftovers versus Feastin’ Flock (The Leftovers)
Poultry in Motion versus Pilgrim Power (Poultry in Motion)
Stuffin’ Stompers versus Turkz (Tie)
“I am feeling pretty confident at this point that we are going to win the Turkey Bowl,” Poultry in Motion junior player Megan Kelly said. “We have a really good mindset, we work well as a team together and I think we are very fun to play with.”
Round 10:
The Leftovers versus Fear the Feathers (Fear the Feathers)
Columbus Crusaders versus Feastin’ Flock (Columbus Crusaders)
Turk 30 versus Poultry in Motion (Poultry in Motion)
Turkey Stuffers versus Stuffin’ Stompers (Turkey Stuffers)
Turk 30 coach senior Gavin Harkins has planned for a comeback in the second half.
“We are feeling a little bit down,” Harkins said. “We have a 3-4 record. We are doing alright. We make crucial plays and they are just too big of an error. It is really diminishing our spirits and throwing us off, but we are going to try and make a comeback in the second half.”
After a morning of playing through rain and wind, Poultry in Motion, Pilgrim Power, Fear the Feathers and Turkey Stuffers advanced to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals:
Poultry in Motion versus Pilgrim Power (Poultry in Motion)
Fear the Feathers versus Turkey Stuffers (Fear the Feathers)
Fear the Feathers and Poultry in Motion advanced to the finals, which were live streamed by MLTV for classrooms inside to watch.
“I am feeling pretty good about my team going into the finals,” Fear the Feathers senior coach Calvin Troutman said. “We have swept the competition so far, so things are looking good for us,”
“Last game we had three pick-sixes as the defense coordinator,” Poultry in Motion senior coach Mark Harrington said. “It’s amazing to see this and if we keep it up, we have a good chance of winning the finals.”
Players were proud of themselves throughout the day, win or lose.
“I wish we would’ve made it to the finals, but all of the teams are pretty good now, so I’m proud of us,” Turkey Stuffers junior player Emerson Snare said. “Plus my touchdown catch at the end there was kind of amazing, so in all I think we did really good.”
The band and Lioneers performed in between the semi-finals and finals.
“I am super excited to be out here,” sophomore band member Nick Boose said. “I like seeing people from my own school play football against each other; it’s fun to watch.”
Finals:
Fear the Feathers versus Poultry in Motion
Fear the Feathers consisted of senior players Ellaina Saylor, Alana Rinehart,, Maddy Pastore, Mya Mielnik and coaches Joseph Speece and Calvin Troutman. Juniors consisted of players Megan Kelly, Collin Lutz, Kendall Cogan, Jorja Treece, Roan Greaser, Jace Black and coach Kreighoff Cumming.
Poultry in Motion was made up of senior players Gavin Albright, Will Sankey, Carmine Polito, Lia Sankey, Triumph Kilmartin and coaches Mark Harrington and Jamaine Thomas. Junior players were Hannah Owulade, Adelyn Himmelwright, Annalyse Yost, Grace Stadtmiller, Sophia O’Dea and coach Gavin Dunkle.
In the end, Poultry in Motion took home the championship for the 2024 Turkey Bowl, with a final score of 5-2. They
will hold the title until next year.
“We turkey’d the bowl,” The Leftovers junior player Korbyn Clifford said.
