The Old Rochester Bulldogs beat out the Wareham Vikings at the annual Powderpuff football game between the two rival schools on Wednesday, Nov. 24.

The raucous pre-Thanksgiving flag football game was held at Old Rochester as Wareham hosted the most recent contest in 2019.

OR came out strong in the game, scoring twice in the first half with touchdown runs by Mackenzie Wilson and Maddie Wright putting the Bulldogs ahead 14-8 at the half.

After a hilarious halftime dance show by the ORR Powderpuff Dance Team — a group of high school boys dressed in tutus, pompoms, and tights — the crowd was fired up for the second half.

But it was the Vikings who came out swinging, scoring first in the second half with a long touchdown run to tie the game at 14.

OR responded quickly with another touchdown, this time on a pass play to Maggie Brogioli that gave the Bulldogs a lead that Wareham could not come back from.

Despite a clutch Wareham interception that kept the Bulldogs out of the endzone in the fourth quarter, the Vikings offense wasn’t able to overcome the deficit and the game ended at 22-14.

After the game, OR Coach Mike Beson, who has coached the team for several years with Scott Tavares, said that the game was a great tradition.

“It was a lot of fun, that’s the point,” he said. “Having the boys dance at halftime was a great touch.”

The Powderpuff Dance Team appeared at the game for the first time this year after Dance Team Captain Amanda Armanetti came up with the idea as a way of popularizing the dance team.

“We’re kind of overlooked, so I thought if I could get the boys out there they’d get everyone pumped and they might have more respect for us in the future,” she said.