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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

Winless Howard faces No. 2 Welsh Family

An 0-2 record means two things in interhall football. One, a team's season is on the brink and, two, emotion will drive a team to pick up that all-important first win. As Howard (0-2) tries to right its ship, Welsh Family (2-0), currently ranked No. 2 in the interhall polls, is approaching the game with caution, recognizing the danger of an 0-2 team."I think Howard is probably very hungry to win a game," Welsh Family captain Mary Pendergast said.The Whirlwinds have played very well in the early weeks of the season, displaying both offensive variety and defensive tenacity."For us, it's really just a matter of executing," Pendergast said. But don't count the Ducks out of this game. Howard has been training hard the last couple of weeks, tweaking their offensive sets and receiver routes."We've been working a lot more on our routes which are a lot crisper," Howard captain Callie Whelan said. On offense, Howard must also find a way to cut through a Welsh Family defense that has confused their opponents with multiple defensive formations early on in the season.The Whirlwinds and Ducks face off at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Riehle West field.Pasquerilla East vs. McGlinnNeither of the teams has won a game yet, but this Sunday, that will change for one team.Pasquerilla East and McGlinn will be playing each other on the West Quad field at 3 p.m..Pasquerilla East has played three games, facing Farley, Pasquerilla West and Breen Phillips. McGlinn has played two games, against Breen Phillips and Walsh. Neither team has secured a win, although coming close at times. "We have a lot of freshman and a lot of inexperience," Pasquerilla East's captain Allison Ferber said. McGlinn has had some bad luck. They lost a very close game against high-ranked Walsh and lost a close scrimmage against Breen-Phillips."We've been trying to solidify the offensive," McGlinn captain Liz Maher said.Although neither team has been able to grab a win, they have not given up."We need something to click," Ferber said. This weekend each team faces the other with confidence. Some of the players to watch out for on the Pasquerilla offense are the senior running back, Stephanie Adams and freshman wide receiver Caroline Nally. On defense, Kendra Simpson has been a strong player."[Kendra] holds the defense together," Ferber said. "[She is] the strength of the defense." Some of the players that have played well on McGlinn's offense are quarterback and co-captain junior Bridget Meacham, running back Raquel Ferrer and senior receiver Onkay Wong.These two teams will come head to head on Sunday, and a winner will be decided. Cavanaugh vs. Pasquerilla WestTwo strikingly similar teams will face each other this Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Cavanaugh Chaos (1-0-1) take on the Pasquerilla West Purple Weasels (1-0-1) at the West Quad fields. Each is undefeated with a tie and coming off an emotional win, and both teams win with tough defense and an offense led by a talented quarterback.The Chaos come in having just picked up their first win with a dominating performance over Farley, reaffirming their umber-one preseason ranking. The Weasels enter Sunday's game with a solid come-from-behind victory from a week ago, over their sister dorm and rival Pasquerilla East no less. Both teams will certainly come out looking to remain undefeated."After the comeback against Pasquerilla East, we are really excited for this season," Pasquerilla West captain Abby Nerlinger said.Cavanaugh quarterback Lisa Ruffer will look to lead an offense that finally got going last Tuesday after being shut out in the season opener. Her ability to throw the deep ball and scramble when put under pressure will undoubtedly test the Weasel defense. The Weasel linebackers will be key in containing Ruffer."We have some really strong linebackers, so we usually look to blitz," Nerlinger said. The highly-touted Chaos defense will have to deal with the green, but promising, Heather Van Hoegarden, the Pasquerilla West quarterback. She played quarterback last Sunday having no prior experience at the position, but still managed to lead a second-half comeback."We will still rotate at quarterback, but I'm guessing Heather will start," Nerlinger said. With the offenses apparently in high gear and the defenses' abilities proven, Cavanaugh and Pasquerilla West will likely put on quite a show this Sunday.Lyons vs. LewisWith Lyons coming off of a disappointing loss to Welsh, Lewis better watch out on Sunday. The two teams will battle it out to decide who gets in the win column and who gets a loss. Lyons came out strong against the No.1 team on Thursday, blocking all but one touchdown attempt. They were, however, unable to put any points on the board. Lewis also suffered a loss to Pangborn on Thursday, a team which Lyons tied earlier this season."We'll come out ready, play our best and work with what we've got," Lewis Captain Julia Burke said. "Our defense is returning though, and they are beginning to really step up during games" Burke said.Lewis has one win and two losses so far this season, while Lyons boasts a 2-1-1 record. "I didn't really look past the [Welsh] game, but now that its over we can think about Sunday's game and prepare," Lyons Captain Traci Kazmerski said.Pangborn vs. Off-CampusPangborn (2-1-1) attempts to continue their surprise season and position themselves for playoff seeding, and the Off-Campus team (0-3) shoots for its first win Sunday at 4:00 at Riehle fields. "If we win, we'll get a better seed in the playoffs," sophomore Caitie MacCourtney said. Faced with an entirely different situation than their opponent, the Off-Campus squad looks to get in the win column. "Hopefully we'll put it all together and win," senior captain Lauren Blum said. "We've struggled. We don't practice at all because most of our team is seniors, and we're pretty busy. Every game is a practice." Off-Campus comes off a tough loss to Badin, while the Phoxes roll into the matchup after winning two straight. "We were missing a few players [against Badin]. Fatigue was an issue because we had players playing both ways: offense and defense," Blum said. With three games left on their schedule, Off-Campus vows to keep fighting. "We're definitely not giving up. We have the potential to win a few games," Blum said.