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October 28, 2005 > Sports > Martel beats Wiess, makes playoffs

Martel beats Wiess, makes playoffs

Sid, Jones also clinch spots in Powderpuff semifinals with wins

By Stephen Whitfield | Thresher Editorial Staff

The Martel Powderpuff team clinched a playoff spot Sunday with a 20-0 victory over Wiess in last week’s featured game.

Martel (5-2) took a 7-0 lead into the second half after scoring a touchdown on the final play of the second quarter. On its opening drive of the third quarter, Martel gained 39 yards on 7 runs by senior halfback Erica Granger, junior halfback Liz Pollard and senior receiver/halfback Sheena Barbour. Wiess (4-2) eventually forced a turnover on downs at its own 21-yard-line, but by then much of the third quarter had passed. Wiess punted on its subsequent drive, leaving Martel with good field position on its own 37 to start the fourth quarter.

Martel began the fourth quarter with consecutive six-yard runs from Granger. A five-yard illegal blocking penalty on Martel nullified what seemed to be another long run by Granger, but on the next play she responded by running 51 yards for a touchdown, giving Martel a 13-0 lead with eight minutes remaining in the game.

On the next possession, Wiess offensive coach Eddie Goodreau installed sophomore halfback Natalie Gwilliam, a key offensive contributor for the past two seasons, at the quarterback spot. Until the change, Martel’s defense had held Gwilliam in check, allowing her to run for only 27 yards on 8 carries.

The strategy worked at first — Gwilliam converted on 3rd-and-8 with a 15-yard reverse and ran quarterback draws for a combined 17 yards on the following two plays. Goodreau, a sophomore, then re-installed starting quarterback Ali Smith, a junior. Smith completed a 3-yard pass to Gwilliam, and the subsequent 10-yard holding penalty on Martel gave Wiess the ball on Martel’s 17 with 2:30 left in the game.

With all three of its timeouts remaining but trailing by two touchdowns, Wiess opted to go to the air. Smith completed an eight-yard pass to sophomore receiver Anna Killgore on 2nd-and-10, but her next two passes were dropped in the end zone, giving Martel the ball at its own 9 with less than a minute remaining. Two plays later, Pollard broke off a 91-yard run for a touchdown to provide the 20-0 final score.

Wiess gained only 100 yards of total offense on 30 plays. Martel ran 44 plays on offense for 272 yards.

Martel coach Brian Gibson said stopping Gwilliam was a top priority for his defense.

“Our first-team defense is really tough,” Gibson, a resident associate, said. “We wanted to make sure we rotated people in as best as we could. [Gwilliam] is an excellent player, so you can’t let up very much without taking a chance on her [scoring] a touchdown.”

With Pollard running effectively, Martel was able to run time off the clock, particularly in the second half when it had the lead. Wiess aided Martel with timely penalties and dropped passes.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times,” Goodreau said. “It seemed like … we would be going [down the field] and then one play would just affect the whole thing. We had that on every drive. We need to limit those mistakes.”

With the win, Martel became the third team to qualify for a spot in the Powderpuff playoffs. Sid Richardson (6-0) clinched a berth with its 27-7 victory over Lovett (2-4), and Jones clinched after a 35-0 win against Baker (0-6). Jones also beat Hanszen (1-4) by a 12-6 margin, and Sid beat Brown (2-5) 20-18 to eliminate Brown from playoff contention. Also, Will Rice beat Brown 20-18.

Martel will make its second consecutive postseason appearance after losing last year to Sid in the semifinals.

Gibson said last weekend’s win was critical for his team.

“It’s a huge win,” Gibson said. “Martel’s still a very young team overall. … Hopefully we’ll get our momentum back before we go to the playoffs.”

Wiess could have clinched a playoff spot by beating Martel, but with two games remaining on its schedule still controls its own destiny for the final spot. Wiess leads Will Rice (2-4) by two games and will go to the playoffs with a win in either of its final two games. Considering the point differential, Will Rice can only hope Wiess loses its final two games — against Sid and Hanszen — by wide margins while Will Rice blows out its own two final opponents, Lovett and Hanszen.

The final Powderpuff game of the week for the regular season will feature a Jones team looking to head into the playoffs on a positive note as they close the season against improved Brown.

Freshman Flag Football

Will Rice (3-0) finished its perfect season in Blue League play with a 19-0 victory over Martel (1-2) Friday. Sid (2-1) beat Baker (0-3) in the other Blue League game 21-14. In the Gray League, Brown (0-4) played back-to-back games Saturday, losing 33-0 to Jones (3-0) and 13-0 to Wiess (3-1). Hanszen (2-1) split its two games Saturday, losing 31-7 to Wiess (3-1) and beating Lovett (1-3) by a 19-18 margin.

Men’s Basketball

In the Atlantic Division Monday, the GSA (1-1) squeaked past Brown (1-1) by a 53-51 margin, Sid Rich (1-1) beat Will Rice (0-2) in a close game 40-39 and Martel (2-0) won 50-44 over Will Rice.

Women’s Basketball

In Western Conference play, Sid (4-0) beat Martel (0-3) on Monday 36-20 and Will Rice (2-1) won 37-14 against Jones (1-1) Tuesday. Sid also defeated Wiess (1-3) by default Tuesday.

Men’s Volleyball

Saturday’s action in the Ketchup League saw the GSA (2-0) and Wiess (1-0) cruise to 2-0 victories over Lovett (1-2) and Jones win its season debut against Hanszen (0-2) by default. In the Catsup League on Tuesday, Martel (1-0) and Brown (2-0) each won 2-0 against Baker (0-2) and Sid (1-0) also earned a 2-0 victory, this time over Will Rice (0-2).

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