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September 16, 2005 > Sports > Sid beats young Will Rice team 27-0

Sid beats young Will Rice team 27-0

By Stephen Whitfield | Thresher Editorial Staff

In Powderpuff Saturday, Sid Richardson won its 22nd consecutive game, defeating Will Rice 27-0.

Sid marched down the field on its opening drive, with junior quarterback Christi Disch running for 14 and 20 yards, respectively, on the first two plays. Three plays later, Disch completed a 30-yard pass to senior wide receiver Lyssa Allen for a touchdown to give Sid a 7-0 lead. Disch scored her first rushing touchdown later in the quarter, blazing past the Will Rice defense for a 58-yard score as time ran out to increase Sid’s lead to 14-0.

With the loss of leading rusher Kristin Jefferson (Sid ‘05) to graduation and senior receiver/defensive back Paula Steinhauser to an ankle sprain, Disch was Sid’s main offensive weapon Saturday. Sid set up mainly in three- and four-receiver formations to spread Will Rice’s defense and ran many draws, option plays and sneaks for its quick and agile quarterback.

Sid coach Joey Stiegler, a senior, said Steinhauser’s absence necessitated a change in the game plan.

“We were missing our best player, so we had to make a couple of adjustments,” Stiegler said. “We thought we had an advantage with Christi running the ball, so when we spread [the defense] out we could get her on the quarterback sneak.”

Will Rice had its most successful drive of the game at the start of the second quarter. After two incompletions, senior quarterback Caitlin Weidig completed an 18-yard pass. The next three plays resulted in a net loss of two yards, but Will Rice opted not to punt on fourth down. Weidig’s fourth-down pass was intercepted by junior defensive back Stephanie Squibb and returned to the end zone, but Sid was flagged for a roughing penalty that gave Will Rice a first down. Will Rice advanced to Sid’s 25-yard-line, but sacks by freshman end Grace Cynkar on third and fourth downs ended any hopes of a score.

On its final drive of the first half, Sid moved the ball to Will Rice’s 19 but failed to convert before time expired.

On the first drive of the third quarter, Sid scored another touchdown thanks mainly to the running game. Disch and sophomore halfback Kristen Rogers ran four times for 49 yards, with Rogers scoring from one yard out to put Sid up 20-0. Will Rice, hampered by incomplete passes, penalties and Sid’s defensive pressure, was never able to mount a sustained drive in the second half. Disch added a 40-yard touchdown run with less than a minute remaining in the fourth to give Sid the 27-0 final score.

Disch led Sid with nine rushes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Even with the game out of Will Rice’s reach late in the fourth quarter, Stiegler opted to run the ball with Disch instead of Rogers.

Like Sid, Will Rice hardly ran the ball. Weidig completed just 7 of 22 throws for 79 yards, although several throws were dropped by Will Rice receivers. Sid’s defense constantly pressured Weidig, sacking her four times and frequently forcing hurried throws.

Will Rice got off to a bad start in part because of its inexperience. Half of the players on the roster were either freshmen or sophomores who were not on the team last season. Four newcomers started on a defense that was able to limit Sid’s passing attack but not the big running play.

Will Rice head coach Clint Corcoran, a senior, said his defensive players must adapt to the game more quickly.

“On the defensive side of the ball, we definitely need to get adjusted to the game earlier,” Corcoran said. “We played better at the latter part of the game [than in the beginning], and that was because we have newcomers on that side of the ball. After we gave up a couple of big plays, we settled down a bit.”

Next week, Sid will line up against Jones (1-0), which showed off an improved defense, beating Lovett (1-1) 12-7. Will Rice (0-1) will play Wiess (1-0), a finalist last season which beat Brown 13-0. In other games, Lovett rolled past Baker (0-1) 35-7 and Martel (1-0) easily beat Hanszen (0-1) 19-0. The Baker-Brown game was postponed with no make-up date scheduled.

Next week’s game of the week will feature Lovett, a semi-finalist last year, against Hanszen, a team which narrowly missed the playoffs.

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