Louisiana Girl, 14, Pulls Double Duty as Cheerleader and Football Player: 'It Gives Me an Adrenaline Rush'

Jennifer Chelette checked her oversized hair bow one more time. Her face sparkled with Game Day glitter as she straightened out her navy-and-gold cheerleader uniform. She was ready to join her squad on the sidelines at Terrebonne High Stadium in Houma, Louisiana, but she had one more thing to do before kickoff.

Jennifer, 14, grabbed a football jersey with the No. 55 and pulled it over her head. She was needed at the 50-yard-line for the coin toss. "I'm a captain," she told PEOPLE with a smile before trotting off to meet her other teammates.

An eighth-grade student at Montegut Middle School, Jennifer is an honor roll student, softball player and cheer member, but she's most popularly known as "the girl who plays football."

This season, she has pulled double-duty: cheering for her team during the first half and playing for her team during the second.

"It's not like any other sport," she says. "It's the only sport where you can go out there and hit somebody and get a really big adrenaline rush. It doesn't compare to anything."

Listen below to an interview with Jennifer Chelette on our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

Like most families from the South, Jennifer grew up watching football and cheering for her favorite teams — New Orleans Saints, Louisiana State University's Tigers, and for her older brother Colby's football teams.

By the time she was 2, her passion for football was evident.

"She was my diva when she was a baby, but when she turned 2, she became the water girl for her older brother's football team," says her mother Heather, 38. "At 6 years-old, she told her dad and I that she wanted to play football. We were like, no, no."

Her family thought she'd grow out of it and lose interest, but her determination never wavered, her parents said. It seemed like every week, Jennifer wanted to do something different, like gymnastics or swimming. But the one constant was that she wanted to be a football player.

Her father Derek finally agreed to let her play when she was 9. "I wanted her to get it out of her system. I didn't think she would like it — and that backfired," says Derek, laughing at the memory.

Derek, who coached football, gave her the tools to tackle and the support to succeed.

"How can I tell her she can be anything she wants in life and then tell her she can't play something?" says Derek. "To see her out there, out-techniquing all the other kids — I was proud."

On a recent Thursday evening in Houma, located about an hour south of New Orleans, Jennifer's family and friends were among the few hundred fans in the stands watching the Lacache-Montegut Middle School Knights battle the Houma Junior High School Bulldogs, the team with the best record.

Jennifer started out the night as a cheerleader, a sport she first tried when she was 7, but left it behind to try out others. This year, she decided to give it another shot.

She watched her teammates struggle from the sidelines, growing more frustrated with each play, and waited impatiently for her football coach to signal for her. Three minutes before the end of the half, it was time to change.

Just like Superman entering a phone booth, or more like Wonder Woman spinning into action, Jennifer and her mom slipped into a nook in the girls' restroom where she changed from cheerleader to football player in a flash.

For the finishing touch, Jennifer put on her gold football helmet over her glitter-covered game face and marched onto the field.

For the second half, she played defensive tackle. Over and over, she upended her opponents. But by the end, the opposing team double-teamed her and repeatedly took her down.

"It gives me an adrenaline rush and makes me want to give it right back to them," she says about getting tackled. "I don't really feel anything during the game, and even if I do feel anything, I ignore it until after."

In the end, her team lost 52-6. She took off her helmet and started to cry. "I know we're better than that," she said, wiping away tears.

Her family created their own squad and cheered for her after the game. Her grandfather leaned in and said, "Never be ashamed of a good day's dirt." She tried to smile. Her brother Colby reminded her that the Bulldogs were determined to stop her. "They're double-teaming a girl, Jenn. That should tell you something!"

Her coach Chris Duplantis says she was a great teammate who changed his perspective on women playing football.

"She walks the walk on both the offensive side and defensive side," he says. "She tackles boys. She blocks the hell out of them. She balls out."

After this season, she's hanging up her pads. Her mother said she didn't want her playing against high school boys. Jennifer reluctantly agreed and plans on being a member of the cheer squad next year.

"In cheer, I like the bonds that you get with the girls. It's a lot different than the boys," she says. "You don't get that adrenaline rush, but it's something fun and different."

She's just getting started, but she hopes to become a pediatrician or sports attorney. And she's currently aiming to attend LSU, Oklahoma University or Florida State University — all of which have won College Football National Championships.