![Wayland Historical Society Executive Director Scarlett Hoey explains the history of the Cochituate Gatehouse.
"The exterior is still a nice monument to remember buildings [involved in] water history," Hoey said. "We all drink lots of water, and it's such an important resource that we kind of take for granted nowadays."](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_2024-1200x800.jpg)
Wayland High School senior girls played in the annual “Powderpuff” game against Weston on Wednesday, Nov. 26. This was a non-school affiliated event organized by seniors Vanessa Taxiarchis, Sophie Hill and Zoe Garcia. Wearing bright pink jerseys, with “Wayland Powderpuff” on the front and “Warriors 26” on the back, the seniors played flag football, a variation of tackle football that involves taking flags, rather than pushing people down.
Starting on Oct. 14, senior girls attended practices on Tuesdays at 6:30 a.m.. Until Nov. 1, there was only one practice a week. However, once Nov. 1 hit, practices changed to twice a week, occurring on both Tuesday and Sunday.
“I feel like it was hard to get up early, but it wasn’t that bad,” senior Maya Raj said. “Once you go to the practices, you’re fine, and everyone was pretty energetic, so it made it good.”
Senior football players were the coaches of the Powderpuff team along with some juniors. Each year, the coaches are in charge of teaching the participants the plays and skills.
First half:
At the start of the first half, both Wayland and Weston players came out strong. Wayland’s quarterback senior Kelsey Kaufmann made some solid throws, and Weston had some good runs down the field. However, despite Wayland’s defense, Weston scored a touchdown early in the half to put them ahead 6-0.
“I thought Powderpuff in general was a really cool experience,” Kaufmann said. “I love football, so it was a lot of fun for me.”
Second half:
In the second half, Weston scored another touchdown to extend their lead to 12-0. Throughout the game, Wayland mostly passed the ball, while Weston mostly ran the ball.
“I was really scared going into [the game] because I knew that it was going to be a bit aggressive, and that people weren’t going to play by the rules,” Raj said. “I thought it was fun.”
The final score was 12-0, Weston winning for the second straight year.
“Everyone should be really proud of the way that they played,” Kaufmann said. “We’re not football players, and we’ve only had a month or so of practice, and I think [considering those factors], people did really well.”
