Atlanta X-plodes in 1st- Dumps Dixie Blues
May 3, 2004 - Independent Women's Football League (IWFL)
Atlanta Xplosion News Release
Smyrna, GA - May 1, 2004
On an afternoon where most wondered how Atlanta could keep pace with Jacksonville's powerful offense, the X-citement came early as the Xplosion's offense scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the ballgame and outdistanced the visiting Dixie Blues 14-12 in a down-to-the-wire thriller !
Atlanta (2-2) unleashed a "new-look" offensive scheme that kept Jacksonville defenders X-posed and X-ploited most of the afternoon. While Jacksonville (1-1) responded early and threatened late, the Xplosion defensive and special teams units came up with critical turnovers in the fourth quarter - placing the ball back in Atlanta's hands for the grand finale.
Quarterback Sue "CLINK" Cackowski hooked up with her #1 target - Angela "DEF" Rowe (5 rec, 128 yds) - for both scores on Saturday. The offsetting running attack of Takela "TC" Corbitt, Treva "NITE-TRAIN" Raftin, and Renee "HENN" Holmes finished off any hopes of Jacksonville climbing back into the game with first down-after-first down late in the contest. The offensive line was the Game's MVP - allowing for Cackowski to throw for 174 yds and 2 TDs, while allowing NO SACKS, and paving the way for a total of 73 yards rushing.
Defensively, Atlanta's heavy-hitters made sure everyone got a piece of the action. The Darkside made adjustments and shut down Jacksonville's misdirection offense in the 2nd half. Carla "SMILEY" Odom led the barrage registering 5 hits (3 solo), followed by a big performance from rookie defensive back Althea "THEA" McNichol with 5 hits (2 solo), and ever-consistent Captain Kiwanii "KK" Gibson also with 5 hits. Veteran linebacker Ereka "E" Woods picked off Blues' QB Brantley Mack to end a potentially momentum-shifting drive early in the 4th quarter. Not to be outdone, the Bombsquad's "DE DE" Hutcherson recovered a fumble by Blues' RB Kim Brown on a punt return several minutes later. Atlanta then proceeded to "POUND THAT ROCK" - running right at the Jacksonville defense for four consecutive first downs and the final three minutes of the contest sealing the X-ecution.
A smiling-but-soaked Head Coach M.G. Dawson on the victory: "It's a great thing we played all 45 women when we made that trip down to Jacksonville back on March 26th in the Preseason... A lot of people looked at that 40-12 final and started scratching their heads saying 'What's happened to Atlanta's high-powered offense?'. Since then, I've lost 6 starters and several key reserves to some pretty serious injuries... The job my coaching staff has done in establishing depth on our roster is nothing short of AMAZING - seeing a rookie- never played contact football- that began the year on defense, had her position change almost every other week, make a move to running back 'on-the-fly' to help out her team... and witness her run smack-over three players and carry three more forward late in the 4th quarter of a game of this magnitude... WOW. Two heavyweights in women's football slugged it out for 60 minutes, and we won the decision - We had 'em on the ropes early, but just could not knock them out. In less than a week, our ladies fully embraced some significant changes in our kicking game and offensive system... Our offensive line played OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD. Those ladies in our locker room truly deserve this sweet-sweet victory, because each of them earned it. For us, it's 'WIN OR GO HOME' the rest of the way - each week is a wildcard playoff game... As long as we continue to get better as a TEAM, we will be in a position to achieve our goal from Day One of competing for the IWFL Championship."
Your 2004 Atlanta Xplosion will have the next week off from action before traveling to face the Knoxville Summit in another South Atlantic Divisional matchup on May 15th...
Contact: Elizabeth Deschesne Media@atlantaxplosion.com
Independent Women's Football League Stories from May 3, 2004
- Atlanta X-plodes in 1st- Dumps Dixie Blues - Atlanta Xplosion
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