This year marked the seventh annual “Turkey Bowl” at National University in Florida. The traditional football game featuring students, faculty and staff had its first play-off in 2009. Since then it has evolved into one of the university’s favorite events.

The evening game is held in a lighted field at the nearby Seminole Recreation Center. President Joe Stiefel threw the annual coin toss for the game’s initial kick-off. Dr. Stiefel, who played in the very first Turkey Bowl, is the namesake for the “Stiefel Cup,” a trophy that is passed down every year to the game’s winning team.

Teams were randomly drawn using colored cards from a hat the day of the event. The teams were evenly matched and the championship round went into overtime. The 2015 winning team, the Golden Rods, included students Nick Herrild, Ravi Rai, Hart Collier, Austin Williams, Brandon Alexander, Jennifer Saboy and guest Whitney Holtzclaw. The 2015 “Most Valuable Professor” was Dr. Chris Arick, and the 2015 “Most Valuable Student Player” was Austin Williams.

Spectators and players enjoyed delicious food delivered by Greek Islands Restaurant, which is owned by the family of alumnus Vicky Poulakas. Turkey Bowl T-shirts were also for sale by the Student American Chiropractic Association to raise money for this February’s National Chiropractic Legislative Conference.

As an extra highlight, Performance Health, Inc. donated gift packages of products from their major health and wellness brands. Performance Health covers an entire spectrum of health and wellness needs for both patients and professionals addressing rehab, sports medicine, pain relief and performance enhancement.

For a complete collection of photos and videos from the game, and a video of President Stiefel’s pre-game pep talk, visit the NUHS Florida Facebook page.