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November 16, 2007 > Sports > Sid, Jones set to meet in Powderpuff final this weekend

Sid, Jones set to meet in Powderpuff final this weekend

By Kushagra Shrinath | Thresher staff

In the end, numbers are just that — numbers. And in powderpuff, rankings are apparently meaningless as well. As heavy underdogs against league juggernaut Brown (7-2), Sid (6-3) relied on a tough, physical defense and late game offensive heroics to earn a 12-6 upset win in double overtime last Tuesday. In the other semifinal the day before, third-seeded Jones (6-3) overcame a late rally by second-seeded Will Rice (6-3) to win 13-6 and punch their ticket to the championship game.

The first three quarters of Brown’s game against Sid featured sloppy play from both teams. Penalties, turnovers and three-and-outs were the norm, and neither team was able to take advantage of good field position, thus resulting in a scoreless tie heading into the half.

Sid, a team that needed help to sneak into the playoffs on the final week of the regular season, made a crucial adjustment in the second half. Head coach Cassius Mensah decided to play bump-and-run coverage, thus slowing down Brown’s receivers at the line of scrimmage and limiting their vaunted aerial attack.

The third quarter saw the same lack of scoring as the first two, but at the start of the fourth, Brown put together the first sustained drive of the game. Brown marched 76 yards in 13 plays and milked more than nine minutes off the clock before junior quarterback Tori Gascoyne found junior wide receiver Kristen Hild for the five-yard touchdown reception. Gascoyne was a perfect 9-9 passing for 67 yards on the drive, and Hild hauled in four passes for 22 yards on the drive to give Brown a 6-0 lead with only two minutes to play.

Sid responded with senior quarterback Lindsay Balthrop orchestrating a quick six-play, 65-yard scoring drive that took just a minute and a half. The drive ended with Balthrop throwing a pass to sophomore wide receiver Ashley Thompson, who evaded two Brown defenders and took it 33 yards to the end zone.

Balthrop, who had been intercepted three times in the game, made good decisions on the drive by not forcing passes and scrambling when necessary. The senior completed all three of her passes on the drive for 48 yards and ran three times for 17 yards.

Sid could not to convert the extra-point attempt and the game went into overtime at 6-6.

In powderpuff, overtime is structured similarly to college football. Each team gets a chance to score, with the ball being placed at the opponent’s 25-yard line. After a scoreless first overtime, Balthrop found freshman wide receiver Salome Vanwoerden open in the flat on the first play of double-overtime. Vanwoerden then raced to the end zone to give Sid a 12-6 lead.

On the first play of Brown’s possession, Gascoyne threw a lob pass that was hauled in for a 13-yard gain. But a run for no gain and three straight Gascoyne incomplete passes sealed Sid’s trip to their seventh-straight championship game.

Sid’s history of success has both weighed down and reinvigorated this team.

“[Our history has] been a burden and a blessing,” Balthrop said. “We’ve had to live up to that tradition, but at the same time we don’t want to be the team that ends the streak [of consecutive championship games].”

Brown head coach Bryan Hodge was humble in defeat and gave all the credit to Sid.

“Sid played a great game,” Hodge, a junior, said. “They were able to slow us down, and we just couldn’t pull the flags on that last drive.”

The other semifinal game was full of action in the first half. Will Rice had the ball twice in the red zone during the first two quarters — including a second and goal at the one-yard line — but was unable to score.

Senior quarterback Theresa Ring and senior running back Caitlin Goodrich paced the Jones offense, but it was freshman phenom Maria Failla who came up with the big plays. Failla caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ring in the second quarter to give Jones a 6-0 lead and also scored on a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown. With those two scores, Jones took a 13-0 lead into halftime that it would not relinquish.

“Maria had a great game,” Jones head coach Matt McDonnell said. “She knew that [the Will Rice defenders] weren’t giving her much space so she made the adjustment and beat them on the long pass.”

Will Rice was able to score late in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by sophomore Marie McKinnon, but it was too little, too late as Jones held on for the win. The victory avenges their opening week 20-19 overtime loss to Will Rice.

“We had a lot more experience this time around,” Ring said. “The freshmen came in with only three weeks of practice for that first game against Will Rice. Now they’ve had over two months [and] the team has gotten better over time.”

The championship game marks the third straight year Sid and Jones have met up in the playoffs. In 2005, Sid blew past an upstart Jones team 19-7 to clinch its third straight powderpuff title, and last year Sid pulled away in the fourth quarter en route to a 13-0 semifinal win. This year, Jones beat Sid 6-0 in Week 5. Since that defeat, Sid has gone 4-0 and is averaging almost three touchdowns a game while limiting their opponents to just six points a game.

“We’re always good under pressure, so we’re ready for the challenge,” Mensah, a junior, said. “I saw Jones play yesterday and [the championship] is going to be a great game.”

While Mensah has a zen-like calm and confidence about his team, McDonnell takes a more cerebral approach to the championship.

“Our girls want it more than anyone else,” McDonnell said. “We’ve got a lot of seniors on this team and this is our last chance.”

End of article

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