All that separated the finest of women's interhall football Sunday afternoon was one extra-point conversion.A single point dashed Lewis' dreams of a championship, for many, four years in the making, as well as their hopes of an unblemished season.But, then again, a single point also propelled Badin into interhall history as the smallest girls dorm on campus took home their first football championship with a 7-6 victory in the Notre Dame Stadium."We're very excited. There aren't even words to describe it," said Steph Heath, one of Badin's quarterbacks."It's even more exciting in the fact that it was such a team effort," said Erin Zachry, the other quarterback for Badin. "This was our first time in the Stadium and we were fortunate enough to come out with a victory."It was a physical battle and both teams came up big defensively on numerous occasions, often making it a struggle for each respective offense to move the 20 yards required for a first down."It was more of a defensive struggle than we expected," Heath said. "We would've thought the offense would've put up more points or at least moved the ball a little better."Badin grabbed the lead midway through the first half as Heath and Zachry took control on alternating plays in order to move the ball down the field. After strong defensive pressure knocked the ball away the first couple of times, Zachry finally connected in the end zone with wide receiver Laura Huarte on third-and-15.The first extra point was called back due to holding on the offense, but Heath was able to complete her pass to Jenn Carter on the second attempt.The Bullfrogs entered halftime up 7-0, happy to have put points on the board in the first half.As quarterback Erin Nasrallah scrambled for first downs and found open receivers, the Chicks seemed poised to make a comeback for the second game in a row.Lewis wide receiver Mimi Lundgren made the touchdown catch, but the Chicks failed to capitalize on the extra-point moments later.Lewis' efforts seemed to be too little, too late, as Badin held them on the Chicks' next drive as the clock was winding down.Badin credited its victory to the efforts and positive attitudes of everyone on the team, in addition to the great dorm support they received and the expertise of their knowledgeable coaches."We have really experienced, dedicated coaches. They were just as focused as we were on making it to the Stadium and winning," Wind said of defensive coach Anthony Pilcher and offensive coaches Kortney Hall and Dan Norton.Badin was happy to redeem themselves after losing a similarly close game to Lewis the first game of the season."We wanted that rematch from the very beginning. We were very glad to have another shot at them," Heath said."We proved we're a little dorm with a big heart," Wind said.
Siegfried 13, Dillon 0Siegfried quarterback Bill Bingle had been here before - a strong defensive opponent, emotions running high and a chance to win the interhall championship. The outcome was equally familiar to him.Siegfried won its second straight interhall championship with a convincing 13-0 shutout of top- seeded Dillon. Dillon's undefeated run this season came to a screeching halt as Siegfried's offense outmatched a resilient Dillon defense that had given up only 17 points all season.Siegfried's offense was lead by Bingle, who was 8-of-12 passing on the day with two touchdowns. A 35-yard touchdown reception by John Kaup and another touchdown catch by Marques Bolden gave Siegfried a quick 13-0 lead going into halftime after the Ramblers failed on an extra point.Both touchdowns were scored following costly Dillon turnovers. A fumble on a punt snap and another fumble on a rushing play gave Siegfried excellent field position inside Dillon territory."We jumped on a few early turnovers by Dillon and were able to hold that momentum the rest of the game," Bingle said.The final blow came after Dillon mounted a 60-yard drive down the field only to come up empty after failing to score on four straight plays from Siegfried's 13-yard line. The drive took the entire length of the third quarter and put Dillon at the mercy of the clock the rest of the game.This was Siegfried's third straight appearance in the championship game and their added experience dictated their attitude going into the game.His team's quarterback agreed, coming through in the clutch to help Siegfried repeat as champions."We knew what to expect coming into the game and we had faith that our offense could get the job done," Bingle said.Even though Dillon had the higher playoff seed and Siegfried had the experience advantage, both teams matched each other in emotional intensity. At halftime, a marshmallow war erupted between the Dillon fans while Siegfried fielded their own marching band.With a second interhall football championship title, Siegfried has lived up to the high expectations the team places on itself."We want to establish a tradition of Siegfried being dominant in interhall athletics," Torgenson said.
