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November 18, 2005 > Sports > Sid defeats Wiess 27-20 in semis

Sid defeats Wiess 27-20 in semis

Sid, Jones to meet in Powderpuff championship game today at 5 p.m.

By Stephen Whitfield | Thresher Editorial Staff

Sid Richardson punched its ticket to the Powderpuff championship game Sunday with an exciting 27-20 win over Wiess. Today at 5 p.m., Sid (9-0) will look to win its third consecutive Powderpuff title when it plays Jones.

The game started as an offensive shootout — Sid (9-0) and Wiess (5-4) traded touchdowns on each of their first two possessions. Wiess took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after an 11-yard touchdown run from sophomore halfback Natalie Gwilliam, capping an opening drive that saw Wiess call a Hatfield-esque 11 straight running plays.

Sid answered immediately on its first possession. Junior quarterback Christi Disch marched down the field with three runs for a combined 32 yards and three plays later threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Paula Steinhauser to tie the game at 7 at the end of the first quarter.

Wiess continued its offensive attack in the second quarter, taking six minutes off the clock on another 11-play drive that ended in a 9-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Allie Smith to Gwilliam, giving Wiess a 14-7 lead. Three plays later, Sid had the ball on Wiess’ 10-yard line after a 31-yard option run from freshman halfback Claire Shorall. On the next play, Disch threw a second touchdown pass to Steinhauser. Sid missed the extra-point attempt, so Wiess still led 14-13 with two minutes remaining in the half.

After Wiess went three-and-out on its next drive, Sid had the ball at midfield with 1:26 left in the half. Three incomplete passes later, Sid faced 4th-and-10. Sid coach Joey Stiegler opted to go for it instead of pinning Wiess deep in its own territory with a punt from Steinhauser, a former varsity soccer player. The risky decision worked out — Disch completed a 33-yard pass to Steinhauser to put Sid at the Wiess 17. Steinhauser later scored her third touchdown of the game on a one-yard pass from Disch that gave Sid a 20-14 lead going into halftime.

The third quarter was mostly uneventful, save for a two-play sequence in which both teams scored touchdowns. On the second play of Wiess’ first possession of the quarter. Gwilliam scored on a 56-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 20. And on the very next play, Disch completed a 65-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Allie Obermeyer that gave Sid a 27-20 lead.

Sid had a chance to put the game away in the fourth quarter, when Disch completed a 36-yard pass to sophomore receiver Emily Mills that looked like it would be an easy touchdown. But referee Hugham Chan, a Lovett senior, blew his whistle before Mills crossed the goal line, stopping the play at the 1. Sid could not capitalize on the field position, losing two yards on a run and throwing three straight incomplete passes in the end zone to give Wiess the ball at its own 3 with two minutes remaining.

After gaining just 10 yards in 45 seconds, Wiess advanced the ball into Sid territory when Smith threw a 52-yard pass to Gwilliam. Two plays later, Gwilliam caught a 32-yard pass to put Wiess inside the Sid 15. A 7-yard pass to sophomore halfback Bianca Caram put Wiess at the Sid 6 with 5 seconds left. Smith was sacked on the game’s final play. Wiess coaches tried to call what they believed was their last timeout, but the referees — Jones junior Kendall Spence and Jones sophomore Matt McDonell — concluded Wiess was out of timeouts and time expired with Sid winning 27-20.

Gwilliam said she was pleased with Wiess’ effort despite not forcing overtime.

“We enjoyed ourselves, and we played our best,” Gwilliam said. “It would have been nice to go into overtime and see what we had to give. It was an evenly matched game.”

Wiess relied on its running game all season, and this game was no exception. Gwilliam rushed 16 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns. However, unlike in some of its previous games, Wiess also completed big passes when necessary — particularly on its final possession. Wiess defensive coach Jack Schornick said he was confident in his team’s passing game.

“We knew coming into the game [that] we could run the ball, especially going up the middle,” Schornick said. “If Sid had a weakness, it was up their defensive middle. … It’s always been a struggle this year to pass, because we’re such a run-oriented team. But … we had faith in them, and they had faith in themselves. It just came down to execution.”

Sid will next face a Jones team that had the week off after beating Martel in its semifinal game Nov. 6. In the teams’ first meeting Oct. 18, Sid won 12-6, handing Jones its only defeat of the season. Sid coach Joey Stiegler said he expects Sid to score more points against a strong Jones defense in the title game.

“Our defense needs to take better angles and pull flags, and on offense, when things don’t go our way, we can’t get frazzled,” Stiegler, a senior, said. “We need to keep cool, keep our heads. I think that given the way we’ve executed all season, there’s no reason we can’t score points on Jones.”

Freshman Flag Football

Will Rice beat Jones 19-13 in the championship game Sunday, and Rahul Agrawal was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Freshman Basketball

In the semifinals, Jones defeated Martel 52-27 Nov. 9 and Sid beat Will Rice 63-53 Nov. 10. Both teams advanced to the final, which has not yet been scheduled.

Women’s Basketball

Sid advanced to the finals Monday with a 40-20 win over Hanszen. Sid will face Will Rice, which beat the GSA 52-24 on Nov. 8, in the finals. The game has yet to be scheduled.

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