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October 5, 2007 > Sports > Hanszen beats last of the undefeated with 13-7 win over Martel

Hanszen beats last of the undefeated with 13-7 win over Martel

By Kushagra Shrinath | For the Thresher

It might not have the same ring to it as last year’s overtime win in the semifinals, but Hanszen’s 13-7 victory over Martel last weekend was as exciting a game as they get in Powderpuff.

Entering the game with two straight shutouts under its belt, Martel’s defense fell victim to Hanszen’s aggressive passing attack from the game’s outset. Orchestrated by junior quarterback Kate Schaeffler, Hanszen went on a seven-play, 65-yard scoring drive to take a quick 6-0 lead.

Schaeffler was a perfect 4-4 passing for 59 yards on the drive, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Rachel Greff.

Hanszen then forced a quick three-and-out to give the offense good field position at its own 42-yard line. But after getting one first down, Martel finally got to Schaeffler when sophomore defensive end Kristin Anderson got a sack on third down to force a punt.

Martel got into a groove on its second drive, marching 47 yards in 10 plays to even the score at 6-6. Martel converted twice on fourth and one, including a one-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jen Woelfel to senior wide receiver Riva Robinson. After the one-point conversion, Martel held a slim one-point lead.

With less than two minutes left in the half, Martel had a golden opportunity to extend its lead after getting the ball on the Hanszen 35-yard line. However, an illegal block and a bobbled snap pushed the offense back, and Martel had to settle for a 7-6 halftime lead.

Martel’s sloppy play continued in the second half when an illegal formation negated sophomore running back Lauren McCauley’s 27-yard halfback option pass to sophomore receiver Johanna Horn. Another illegal block pushed Martel back 10 more yards, and a poor exchange on a reverse play on third and 17 forced Martel to punt.

Hanszen then proceeded to go on a balanced 11-play, 57-yard scoring drive that milked more than seven minutes off the clock, capping it off with a one-yard touchdown pass from Schaeffler to sophomore Alyssa Cotterman. Hanszen converted the one-point try to take a 13-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We try and work on mixing it up — not always doing the same thing, run or pass,” Schaeffler said. “We started out just finding out what was working and went with that.”

After putting together a solid drive and marching down to the Hanszen 17-yard line, Martel’s offensive woes resurfaced thanks to three consecutive fumbles. Two botched handoffs on reverses and a bad snap from the shotgun formation left Martel facing a fourth-and-16 play from the Hanszen 23-yard line.

On fourth down, Woelfel aired a pass to McCauley in double-coverage. McCauley was able to come down with the ball but was flagged less than a yard from the first down marker, resulting in a turnover on downs.

But with less than three minutes remaining in the game Martel did not cave in, forcing a quick three and out.

Needing to go 60 yards in two minutes, Martel twice dodged disaster on its next possession. An interception was called back due to defensive holding, and a pass interference call on fourth down nullified an incomplete pass that would have ended the game.

However, Martel was unable to capitalize on these rescue attempts, turning the ball over on downs when a Woelfel pass to receiver Horn fell harmlessly to the ground.

“Years were taken off my life on that drive,” Hanszen head coach Chris Revell said. “Two or three times we thought the game was over only to be penalized to keep the game in motion … but even though we kept getting penalized we were still finally able to stop them on fourth down.”

Martel head coach Brian Gibson gave credit where credit is due, but also pointed to his team’s lack of experience as a possible mitigating factor.

“I think we’re young and we made some errors that we’d normally not make,” Gibson said. “But I give a lot of credit to Hanszen. … They throw a lot better than they did last year, they block well, and they’re really disciplined on defense.”

In other scores around the league, Brown topped Baker 20-6 and Jones edged out Weiss 6-0. Sid Richardson, the other previously undefeated squad, was upset by Will Rice 13-6, meaning that five teams — Sid, Martel, Hanszen, Jones and Will Rice — are currently tied for second place with a 2-1 record. Brown is atop the standings at a 3-1 clip. Baker and Lovett remain winless.

End of article

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