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November 2, 2007 > Sports > Brown holds on to top spot with win over Jones

Brown holds on to top spot with win over Jones

By Kushagra Shrinath | Thresher staff

It is a shame there is no such thing as Fantasy Powderpuff, because Jackie Ammons would make her owners look like geniuses. The sophomore receiver/cornerback scored all but one of Brown’s points in a thrilling 27-24 victory against north college rival Jones (4-2) on Sunday. The win puts Brown (6-1) in the driver’s seat to clinch the top seed heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

The action in the highly anticipated matchup of the two top teams in powderpuff started off quickly as Jones went on a quick four-play, 65-yard scoring drive to start the game. The drive was capped off by a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Theresa Ring to freshman receiver Kayla Dunbar.

Brown responded with a solid drive of its own, featuring a spectacular 25-yard reception by freshman receiver Jecca Steinberg on a third-and-10 play to prolong the possession. Junior quarterback Tori Gascoyne finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ammons, giving Brown a 7-6 lead.

Following a three-and-out by both teams to begin the second quarter, a poor punt gave Jones good field position near midfield. On the second play of the subsequent drive, Ring hit Goodrich on a swing pass, who then flew by four Brown defenders en route to the end zone to put Jones ahead 12-7.

Later in the quarter, Jones would put itself in position to take a commanding lead as it marched down the field with ease. But on a first-and-goal for Jones at the one-yard line, Ammons put on an impressive display of defensive prowess. She intercepted a pass in the endzone and sprinted to the sideline untouched all the way to the other endzone, giving Brown a 13-12 lead heading into halftime.

“It’s a game of inches,” Jones coach Matt McDonell said. “We’re on the one-yard line and we [went] from an almost certain score to a touchdown the other way. … It was a big momentum swing for sure.”

Brown later extended its lead to 19-12 thanks to a quick screen pass to Ammons.

Jones responded on the first play of its next possession as Goodrich ran a sweep 65 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 19-18. However, as Jones attempted to even the score on the point-after conversion, Ring was picked off for the second time in the endzone by Ammons, who ran the interception back to score a safety and give Brown a 21-18 lead.

Brown then went on another solid scoring drive. Gascoyne was a perfect 3-3 for 40 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ammons that gave Brown a comfortable 27-18 lead. Although Jones was able to cut the lead to 27-24 in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late as Brown ran out the clock to preserve the win.

Ammons was the high offensive performer for either team, finishing with nine receptions for 183 yards and three touchdowns.

“I think what gives me an advantage out there is that I’m tall,” Ammons said. “But it’s really a team effort. Tori made some great throws and the O-line blocked well up front to give her time.”

Brown, which had allowed only 31 points in its first five games, has given up 37 points in its last two. Leading the way for Jones was senior running back Caitlin Goodrich with 12 touches for 206 total yards and two touchdowns.

“Caitlin [is] a monster out there — she beat us on a few plays,” Brown coach Bryan Hodge said. “We really need to work on [defending] sweeps so we don’t have those problems next week.”

In other scores around the league, Hanszen (5-2) jumped into second place with a 20-6 win over Will Rice (5-2), which remained in third place. Hanszen needs to beat Brown on Sunday to make the playoffs. Sid (4-3) knocked off Martel (3-3) 6-0, and Baker (1-6) earned its first win of the year over Lovett (1-5), winning 26-7. Lastly, Will Rice finished its double header with a 7-0 overtime win over Wiess (1-6).

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