Outwardly, it was a fun competition to see which Northern Lehigh High School class could one-up its contemporaries.

Internally, those who participated in the Powder Puff Football games held Thursday night at Bulldog Community Stadium understood what was at stake.

This year’s annual gridiron contest was dedicated to its military veterans, and admitted all veterans free of charge with proof of identification.

The classes represented each branch of the military as follows: Seniors, Navy; juniors, Army/National Guard; sophomores, Air Force; and freshmen, Coast Guard.

Out on the field, the competitive juices flowed, as the freshmen defeated the juniors 20-18 in the first game, followed by the sophomores 20-0 blanking of the seniors in the second contest.

In the Powder Puff championship, it was the freshmen who bested the sophomores by a narrow 16-12 margin.

After the win, several members from the victorious squad were clearly stoked over their winning performance.

Freshman Gabriella Hanna was thrilled with her team’s achievement.

“I’m very happy; we worked very hard for this,” Hanna said. “I’m so proud of them.”

Fellow freshman Grace Bauer said she was proud of how the team played on both sides of the ball.

Likewise, freshman Skyelar Horack was impressed with her team’s perseverance.

“We all came together,” Horack said. “I’m proud of everyone.”

High school Principal Robert Vlasaty noted the school’s Powder Puff Classic is normally an annual event, but last year it was canceled due to COVID.

“We were inspired to rebrand this event as the NLHS Veterans Powder Puff Classic to honor our military and provide our veterans free admission,” Vlasaty said. “It was very well attended, and the students and parents had a great time.”

Vlasaty noted the NLHS Patriot Club is in charge of the event and determined that each class would represent the different branches.

“The Patriot Club not only raises/lowers Old Glory daily, but raises money in order to plan field trips to historic sites and benefit our veterans in different ways,” he said. “They have held a number of barbecues for our veterans in the past, and they are looking forward to continuing this tradition.”

Additionally, Vlasaty said they reached out to the recruiters of each of our military branches and were able to get commitments from the Army National Guard, Air Force and Navy to attend the event.

He said the National Guard was able to loan them authentic camo football jerseys for the juniors, which they wore during warm-ups.