CHEBOYGAN — It was a different kind of homecoming football game at Cheboygan on Friday, Oct. 16.
But it was still a heck of a lot of fun — and very intense.
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But when it was time to rise to the occasion, the Cheboygan seniors did that and earned bragging rights for a second consecutive year by capturing a 14-6 victory over the juniors in a powderpuff showdown at Western Avenue Field.
Here’s some takeaways from Friday’s chilly but exciting battle between Cheboygan’s 2027 class and 2028 class.
Long’s superhero display fuels seniors to victory
She stands out on the volleyball court, and she certainly stands out on the soccer pitch.
In a showdown that meant a lot to her coming into Friday, Cheboygan senior Maddie Long showed she’s quite the football player when she gets the opportunity to play.
Long’s spectacular play was the difference for the seniors, as she scored two long touchdown runs — including a 55-yarder in the third quarter — and intercepted a pass in the fourth, which kept momentum on the side of the seniors.
“I’m just a very aggressive person when it comes to sports, and I want to win,” Long said after the seniors’ victory. “I come to win. I stay calm during the game, I keep my cool, and I just do what I know. I did what we practiced and that’s exactly how it turned out.”
With the win, Long and her senior Cheboygan teammates finished their homecoming powderpuff game careers at 2-0, and it felt oh so good after hearing a lot of noise from the other side throughout the week.
“They talked a lot of crap, and they thought they were going to blow us out, and we came to play,” Long said. “They were saying they were better athletes, that they were going to win. Just keep your cool, have good sportsmanship, and that’s all you need to win.”
Senior defense shines after falling behind
Prior to the Cheboygan seniors finding their groove on offense, it was the juniors building momentum by playing stout defense. The juniors struck first when Diem Schley connected with Abby Schulz on a 5-yard TD pass for a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.
After that, however, Cheboygan senior head coach Landon Gahn saw his defense, fueled by the likes of Long, Elise Markham, Cloee Rupp, Briahna Campbell, Mackenzie Stockman and many others, tossed a shutout the rest of the way.
“They came out here knowing what was at stake,” a proud coach Gahn said following his team’s triumph. “They knew that this community got their football team ripped away, and they knew that people were coming to watch in place of that. They knew that we had a 2-0 season on the line, and there was a lot of smack talk coming from those juniors, so we knew we had to come out here and ball out. They came out here, gave their best effort, and they dominated.”
Gahn also heard the smack talk from his junior counterparts, but he and his squad remained composed all week and unleashed in a Friday night thriller that came down to the final seconds.
“(The juniors) were throwing shade at us at unneeded times,” Gahn said. “We as seniors kept it pretty classy, and out on the field there was some chippiness, some pushing and shoving, and we stayed in our lane and stayed focused on what we could do and took care of business.”
In it for the fun
With no varsity squad this fall because of low numbers, it was uncertain what a homecoming Friday night at Western Avenue Field would look like in the middle of October.
But with the effort, intensity and passion both classes showed in this year’s powderpuff showdown, it made for an exciting homecoming day and night in Cheboygan.
For Gahn, he certainly enjoyed the unique experience.
“I said it last year and I’ll say it again. I think I had more fun coaching these girls than I do playing on the field,” Gahn said. “Obviously, you miss being out there with the guys, and that’s like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but you get nine games a year at least. This is once a year and you only get it twice in your life. For these girls to trust me as their coach and execute and be aggressive and show effort, it means the world to me.”
Before Friday’s powderpuff game, Cheboygan announced seniors Eino Leminen and Nataleigh Blaisdell as its 2026 homecoming king and queen. Following the homecoming court being introduced, Cheboygan’s marching band delivered a pregame performance before the seniors and juniors got their battle underway.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan seniors earn 14-6 victory over juniors in powderpuff game