Halloween Bowl 2024 Background/Results

The Halloween Bowl is a 7 v 7, two-hand touch football game that was only for seniors from Woodhaven High School. 

The commissioner of the league, Jace Davis, decided that there should be a draft to pick the teams. Jace Davis and Landon Williamson were the captains of each team. Jace’s team name was the Wildcats and his first overall pick was Adam Budai. Since the style of the draft was a snake style, Landon got two picks before Jace could select another person. Landon selected JJ Lawson and Nikolas Votraw with his first two picks. Jace wanted to go out and get two people who could run routes and be effective on offense. He ended up selecting Evan Holt and Owen Kraft with his second and third-round picks. Landon’s third and fourth-round picks were Ricardo Chapa who did not come to any events before the draft so it was a risky pick, and Brayden Williams who was selected for his great catching ability. Jace’s final three picks were Aiden Moritz, Liam Warner, and Ethan Pawlowski, who were all reasonable draft picks. Landon’s last two selections were Isaac Michaelis and Maxwell Cooper. 

Both Men In Black (Landon’s team) and The Wildcats (Jace’s team) thought they could win this game. To start the game the captains met in the middle of the field for a coin toss. Men In Black won the toss and decided to kick the ball first meaning they would receive to start the second half. Right off the bat, The Wildcats failed to score on their first drive and Men In Black responded quickly going up 8 to 0. By the end of the first half Men In Black was leading 14 to 6 and was confident knowing they would get the ball first to start the next half. After a quick halftime intermission, Men In Black came out hot scoring on the first drive to increase the lead to 22 to 6. This made it difficult for the Wildcats to come back because they were down many points and did not have a lot of time. A comeback was almost complete but Men In Black was able to get the last first down to win the game 34 to 28. 

When asked Maxwell Cooper his thoughts on the game he said, “It was a hard-fought battle but we just were the more complete and hard-working team that day.”

Every person on both sides gave it their all and wanted to win the game very badly. First-round selection JJ Lawson ended up getting an AC sprain in his shoulder and an ankle sprain. Third-round pick Owen Kraft ended up pulling his groin during the game. This shows how much love some of the players had for the game. 

Halloween Bowl commissioner Jace Davis announced after the game “I am not being commissioner anymore”. The league is looking for a new commissioner, to host another draft with the same people, and possibly have another game during Thanksgiving or Christmas.