Farley 6, Howard 0
Howard's steady, two-year reign of dominance in the world of interhall football came to a halt Sunday night, as Farley shut out the Ducks in a defensive, penalty-ridden contest.
Strong defense on both sides marked the first half as each team was forced into a number of three-and-out series. An interception by Farley senior safety Claire Kueny put the Finest (1-0) into favorable field position, but two penalties negated the turnover's impact.
The defensive struggle between both teams continued well into the second half, as Howard and Farley each struggled to gain yardage. However, Farley utilized their option attack and capitalized on several costly pass interference penalties to set up a strong drive. The Finest finally broke through when junior receiver Stacey Collins hauled in a six-yard touchdown pass.
Howard (0-1) looked poised to score on the next drive, as sophomore quarterback Clare Robinson made some strong runs, but the Ducks' comeback hopes were crushed when Kueny made yet another interception with just two minutes left in the game.
With the victory, Farley ended Howard's two-year interhall football winning streak. Kueny saw the Finest victory as a testament to the team's strong defense.
"Our defense made it very difficult for the quarterback to get a good pass, which allowed me to step in front of receivers," Kueny said.
Despite the loss, many on the Howard sideline remained confident about their team's ability to carry on the winning tradition of its predecessors.
"We have built on the defense of the last two years and continue to have a very strong defense," Robinson said. "Our offense is coming along, but we need to capitalize on errors by the other team."
Both teams will play Breen-Phillips next. Howard will look to make some quick improvements against the Babes on Tuesday, while Farley will play Breen-Phillips looking to start a winning streak.
McGlinn 24, Lewis 14
There was one word on McGlinn's mind while playing Lewis - dominate.
With senior receiver Kate Tucker leading the way with three touchdowns from senior captain and quarterback Lauren Miller, the Shamrocks were nearly unstoppable in their win.
"We have done a lot on perfecting our plays," senior captain AylaBicoy said. "Our strongest aspect was our cohesion on offense and speed development. It showed with our amount of successful runs."
Out of the gates, McGlinn (1-0) was ready to go. On the first down of the game, freshman running back Emma Collis had a 15-yard run, which was only a preview of how the rest of the game was going to be played. It was a struggle for the Chicks (0-1) to get past strong forces such as Tucker and Collis.
Despite the opposing factors and the rain, Lewis did not go down without a fight.
"We had a really great start to the year," senior receiver Christine Hamma said.
Referring to the second half of the game, Hamma noted that the defense stepped it up and the offense pulled itself together. The Chicks struggled defensively, but fought hard on offense thanks to junior quarterback Connaught Blood.
"Blood really holds the team together," Hamma said.
Despite the outcome of the game, the Chicks consider themselves a threat for the rest of the season.
"As the year goes on, everything will click a little more and people will get used to each other," Hamma said. "I think we're really going to impress some people."
McGlinn will face Lyons on Sunday, while Lewis plays Welsh Family on Sunday.
Welsh Family 13, Pasquerilla East 0
Welsh Family junior quarterback Vicky Moreno was dominant as she led her team to a shutout win Sunday over Pasquerilla East.
Moreno racked up 179 passing yards while throwing touchdown passes to senior receivers Natalie Baldasare and Charlotte Seasly as the Whirlwind (1-0) were able to edge out a win.
"The key to today's game was making adjustments," Moreno said. "We saw that [Pasquerilla East] was bringing blitzes pretty hard and our offense was fantastic in adjusting to that. My receivers made my job very easy; all I needed to do was put it in their vicinity and they caught it."
Welsh Family came out firing from the start, with Moreno completing passes all over the field. The Whirlwind were able to sustain a pair of long drives in the early first half, but were twice stopped in the red zone by a stiff Pasquerilla East (0-1) defense.
With the first half in danger of ending scoreless, the Welsh Family offense found itself at midfield with only 1:10 to play in the half. Moreno quickly completed consecutive 17-yard passes to Seasly and Baldasare. Shortly after, Moreno found Baldasare in the back of the endzone with only three seconds left on the clock.
The Whirlwind scored early in the second half when Moreno's found a diving Seasly from the 8-yard line.
Pasquerilla East looked to rally late in the game when quarterback Macy Mulhall threw back-to-back passes of 26 and 17 yards, but the Welsh Family defense held strong as time ran out on the Pyros' rally.
"Obviously it was a tough loss, but there are a lot of positives we can take from this game," Pasquerilla East senior captain Kristin Mannion said. "Our offense really was able to pick it up late in the game."
The Pyros will look to bounce back as they take on Walsh next Sunday, while Welsh Family hopes to maintain its momentum when it takes on McGlinn on Monday.
Ryan 34, Lyons 8
Ryan senior running back Brianna Curtis dominated in Sunday's win over Lyons. Curtis rushed for 105 yards and two rushing touchdowns on the day.
"We just ran our plays like we were practicing and had a good week of practice," Curtis said.
The Wildcats (1-0) drove down the field on their first possession, as senior quarterback Maya Pillai threw one of her three touchdown passes over the middle of the field.
Lyons (0-1) responded quickly though, as senior quarterback Kat Rodriguez and the offense thrived early in the game by alternating between the option and bootleg to keep Ryan's defense off guard.
After a touchdown and two-point conversion, Lyons took the lead, but Ryan soon responded. The Wildcats' defense played extremely well, as they made big stops and started to force turnovers. With this momentum, Curtis and the rest of the offense took the lead and never looked back.
Despite the loss, Rodriguez took a lot of positive signs come from the game.
"We have a young team this year," Rodriguez said. "We haven't had as many practices as we would have liked leading into the game, and so we didn't have the chemistry that we would've hoped for. We have a lot of promise, though, and I can see us being a great team."
Lyons will face McGlinn next Sunday as it looks to improve on its chemistry, while Ryan hopes to continue its success as it takes on Walsh.
Cavanaugh 28, Badin 0
Cavanaugh's defense dismantled Badin's offensive game plan and led the team to a season opening victory.
Cavanaugh (1-0) pressured the Badin quarterbacks throughout the game and forced two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. Sophomore middle
linebacker Meaghan Ayers returned a touchdown the first play of the second half. Senior captain cornerback Maggie Fahrenbach sealed the game with a touchdown late in the game for the Chaos.
"It feels great to start off with a win," Fahrenbach said. "Now we have a lot of confidence going into our game on Tuesday. Our defense was definitely a strength today."
The Chaos offense also contributed with a well-executed passing game. Senior quarterback Rebecca Cink connected with senior receivers Brittni Alexander and Megan Robertson for a pair of touchdowns.
Badin (0-1) started off with a disappointing loss against a powerhouse Cavanaugh team. The Bullfrogs' debut of their two-quarterback system was halted by the opposing rush. Senior quarterbacks Carli Fernandez and Sylvia Banda had problems distributing the ball, with only junior receiver and running back Ashley Okonta able to often break into the Cavanaugh secondary.
The team hopes to gain experience and build on team chemistry to pull through in its next game.
"I think we did a lot of things right today," Okonta said. "I think we need just a bit more chemistry to improve on the season."
Cavanaugh faces Pasquerilla West in a quick turnaround Tuesday, while Badin plans to rebound next Sunday against Howard.
Pangborn 40, Breen-Phillips 0
Pangborn came ready to play Sunday evening in a 40-0 shutout over Breen-Phillips. Senior receiver and captain Liz Pawlak shined, with over 60 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the Phoxes (1-0). The offense posted a total of 200 yards.
"Our offense really worked well together," Pawlak said.
Pangborn's defense also played strongly. The Phoxes had four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
"[The defense] played really well, especially because there are a lot of new girls," Pawlak said.
Breen-Phillips (0-1) struggled to contain the Phoxes. The Babes were particularly plagued by penalties and interceptions. Before the first snap, the Babes already had incurred a five-yard delay of game penalty.
"Any of our attempts that were not finished off were probably more due to penalties," Breen-Phillips senior captain Emily Thompson said.
Despite the loss, there were good signs from the Babes on Sunday. Their offense had several promising drives that they hope to continue in future games.
Thompson sees potential in the team.
"We have a lot of athleticism," she said. "The score doesn't reflect actually how good our team is."
Pangborn looks to continue its successful play against Pasquerilla West on Sunday, while Breen-Phillips looks for its first win of the season when it faces Howard on Tuesday.
Contact John Pratt at jpratt@nd.edu, Ernst Cleofe at ecleofe@nd.edu, Brendan Bell at bbell2@nd.edu, Nick Boyle at nboyle1@nd.edu, Meghan Roder at mroder01@saintmarys.edu, Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu
