Lyons used three interceptions and strong quarterback play from Roxy Trevino to defeat Pasquerilla East 13-6 on a cool, rainy Sunday afternoon at the Stepan Fields. This was a much-needed win for the Lions after they were shut out 6-0 by Lewis on Thursday night.
The Lions' first interception of the game set their offense up nicely. The ball was picked off with about four minutes remaining in the first half and returned all the way to the Pasquerilla East 2-yard line. Two plays later Lion quarterback Roxy Trevino connected for a touchdown and the ensuing one point conversion to make the score 7-0.
PE didn't even have to try too hard on their next possession to get across midfield. Lyons committed personal foul penalties on two consecutive plays, which gave PE great field position. Freshman quarterback Laura Adams took advantage of the Lions' mistakes right away with passes of 10 and 25 yards to put the Pyros at the Lion 10-yard line.
With just one minute left in the half, Adams tossed her first and only touchdown of the game. The Pyros couldn't convert on the crucial one point conversion attempt and the score stayed 7-6 as the teams went in for halftime.
Things looked bright at the start of the second half for PE. After forcing Lyons to punt on their opening possession, the Pyros used a nifty return to set up their offense on their own 35. The Pyros seemed primed to make a comeback.
However, the Lyons defense had other ideas. After an incompletion, Adams had her pass intercepted and returned to the Lion 38-yard line. Trevino led her squad out on the field and wasted no time in moving the football. She completed passes of 10 and five yards right away. On third-and-2 from the PE 35-yard line, Trevino completed yet another pass to keep the drive alive. Just seconds later, she fired a rocket into the arms of Lyons receiver Meghan Regan. Though they couldn't convert the one point try, the damage had been done and the score was now 13-6 Lyons.
After the two teams exchanged possessions, Lyons took over on their own 30-yard line with nine minutes left looking to add to their lead. But on their first play the ball was intercepted by the Pyros and returned to the Lyons 35-yard line.
Unfortunately for PE, a false start penalty and a few incomplete passes halted their momentum and they turned the football over to the Lions with six minutes left. Lyons couldn't do anything with the ball either and were forced to punt.
Pasquerilla East took over on their own 20 with two minutes remaining and used some razzle-dazzle to attempt a comeback. Adams threw a pass to a PE wideout who caught it, turned around and flipped a lateral to a teammate who flew past her and most of the Lyons defense for a 15-yard gain. A 20-yard pass by Adams two plays later put the Pyros deep in the Lions' territory. The momentum was burning brightly on the Pyros' side of the field as a touchdown seemed imminent. But Lyons defensive back Becky Wynne put a stop to that as she intercepted a tipped pass to seal the victory for her team.
After the game Lyons quarterback Roxy Trevino spoke about her team's clutch play. "Our defense had a lot of interceptions today and we capitalized on them," she said. "I guess they were just at the right place at the right time."
Badin 33, Howard 6
While many of us were seeking shelter from the downpour last Sunday evening, the Badin football team was scoring lots of touchdowns. Badin's 33-6 slaughter of Howard marked the beginning of their two-game winning streak and added another loss to Howard's losing record.
Badin's win truly was a team effort, with four different players scoring the five touchdowns against Howard.
"Four different people scoring touchdowns is a sign of a healthy offense with multiple threats", Badin senior captain Jenn Carter said.
In the first half, quarterback Erin Zachry was the first to put six points on the board for Badin. Meg Charlebois and Ashley O'Keefe added thirteen more points to Badin's lead. O'Keefe scored a second touchdown in the second half, but this time left the one point conversion to Badin's other quarterback Steph Heath. Molly Donnelly also scored a touchdown and one point conversion for Badin in this half.
Despite the disappointment that the Howard team had to have felt about their loss, they at least had to be happy about scoring their first touchdown of this fall. The Ducks' two interceptions of Badin's passes also were signs of their improvement.
The Bullfrogs also played good defense and intercepted two of the Ducks' passes.
"Defense was solid as always. It's great to be so strong on both sides of the ball," Carter said.
Badin's victory over Howard (0-3) has put them at a very high spot in the gold division's rankings. This Thursday if Badin (3-1) beats McGlinn (3-1) and Lewis defeats Pasquerilla East, then Badin will be the second place team in the league. Carter discussed her team's match up against McGlinn.
"It will be a big game, both teams know how important it is, neither is going to give up easily," Carter said. "Everyone is looking forward to Thursday's game."
Badin has stepped up its play a lot during its past two games.
Cavanaugh 24, Walsh 0
This Sunday the Cavanaugh Chaos came prepared to make a statement. With an overpowering defense and strong offense they did just that and won decisively 24-0 over the Wild Women of Walsh.
The Chaos defense played as close to a perfect game as there is in football by shutting out Walsh and giving up only one first down on the day.
Cavanaugh's defense also closed the game out with when Maureen Carney returned an interception for a touchdown to make the score 24-0.
Walsh's defense, led by Karla Bell, helped keep the score at 12-0 until the last quarter of the game. The play that clinched it for the Chaos came when freshman Julia LaPointe caught a touchdown pass with six minutes left to play. She credited her teammates for their consistent play.
"Today the defense was very strong and the offense really clicked," LaPointe said.
A major reason the Chaos defense was so dominant had to do with the play of their line. Lauren Manning anchored the line all day and had a key interception.
Cavanaugh quarterback Lisa Ruffer confidently ran the offense and had three touchdowns on the day including an impressive 50-yard rushing touchdown.
Cavanaugh co-captain Bridget Cerne was very pleased with the all around strong play of her team.
"We were really prepared on defense all day and the offense was able to deliver," she said.
Cavanaugh hopes to take the momentum from this game and carry it over to next week as they look towards the playoffs.
Pasquerilla West 13, Farley 13
As any football player, coach, or fan knows, penalties have the potential to devastate a team, erasing hours of hard work with one simple, rule-breaking mistake. Pasquerilla West committed a pair of costly penalties that sustained a last-ditch Farley effort on Sunday as the Finest were able to take advantage of the mistakes and produce a last-second score to salvage a 13-13 tie.
"We got off to a slow start, but we picked it up and scored a couple of touchdowns." Purple Weasel captain Leslie Schmidt said. "Our defense made some huge stops, but at the end, things just quit going our way."
Trailing 13-7 with just over two minutes remaining, the Finest took over at its own 22-yard line. After a defensive pass interference penalty, a couple of short gains, and an incompletion, Farley faced a do-or-die fourth down at the Purple Weasel 30-yard line.
Dropping back to pass, sophomore quarterback Katie Popik fired and was picked off, seemingly ending Farley's desperation drive and securing the Purple Weasels their second victory. However, a late hit on Popik resulted in a roughing the passer call that gave the Finest an automatic first down just outside the Pasquerilla West 20-yard line with 48 seconds to play.
Following three straight incompletions, including a ball that should have been intercepted by a Purple Weasel defender, Popik kept Farley's hopes alive as she converted another crucial fourth down with a 5-yard keeper.
The penalty bug bit Pasquerilla West yet again on the next play as an illegal bull-rush moved Farley inside the 10-yard line with nice seconds on the clock.
"[Not committing] penalties can be a huge strength," Farley captain Angelina Zehrbach said. "We thought they were good calls and we'll definitely take them."
After her first attempt fell incomplete, Popik threw to the right corner of the end zone and found senior receiver Lizzy Coghill, who bobbled the low throw, yet somehow managed to hang on for the equalizing score.
"They told me to run a fade into the end zone," Coghill said. "I just tried to do whatever I could to get open."
The game's ending was a bitter case of déjà vu for the Purple Weasels. Less than a week after putting together a late fourth quarter drive to salvage 6-6 tie against Breen-Phillips, Pasquerilla West was unable to prevent Farley from returning the favor, albeit with the help of a couple of crucial penalties along the way.
While Farley is back on the field this evening against Cavanaugh, Pasquerilla West will have to wait until next weekend to remove the bitter taste of last Sunday's disappointing ending when the Purple Weasels challenge the Whirlwinds.
