Sharks win to remain in first place
Published on April 26, 2004 under Independent Women's Football League (IWFL)
New York Sharks News Release
It was a beautiful day for a football game in New York City. The skies were clear with game time temperatures in the upper 60's. It was a tad windy but a wonderful day to be outside and watch some football.
The New York Sharks (3-0) were looking to keep their 23 regular season winning streak alive as they hosted the Montreal Blitz (0-2). Montreal on the other hand was trying to break their 1 game losing streak. They lost their season opener in Maine last week. The Blitz have become very familar as the Sharks have played them in New York more times than any other opponent, this being their fourth meeting in the Big Apple in the last 3 years. They say that familiarity breeds contempt, but in football it is more likely respect.
The Blitz won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game. Running Montreal's offense is quarterback Samantha Rapoport, a speedy player who is returning to the Blitz after taking last year off to intern for the NFL. She is the only player on the Blitz to have ever scored against the Sharks. To help her cause, she had Melissa Dykeman in the backfield. On the first series, Montreal gave the ball to Dykeman who was able to pound out a first down, but the Sharks defense would not let the Blitz get past Montreal's 44-yard line.
After a Blitz punt, the Sharks had the ball on their own 43-yard line. The Sharks offense was hoping to improve over last's weeks performance against New Hampshire. It started off well as Val Halesworth hit receiver Jen Blum for a quick 10-yard gain. Another quick pass to Virginia "Cha Chi" Leon picked up 3-yards. It looked like the moribund offense was beginning to shake off the cobwebs when New York fumbled the football on the Blitz 42-yard line. The Blitz recovered the ball on New York's 45-yard line. On the play Sharks running back Lakisha Grant hurt her leg and concerned looks were on the faces of New York. Grant had sat out the better part of two season after injuring her knee and had to be helped off the field. It turned out to be an ankle sprain and she will be OK, but she did not play for the rest of the game.
The turnover was an opportunity that Montreal could not capitalize on, even with the aid of a Shark 15-yard penalty. The farthest the Blitz could move the ball was down to New York's 32-yard line before their offense stalled. With the ball back in New York's hands, the Sharks could do nothing with it and were forced to punt after 3 downs. On one of the few positive notes in the first half, punter Nikki Gwinnett showed off her kicking talents by drilling the ball over the Blitz returner's head for a 61 yard punt. That put Montreal all the way back to their own 17-yard line. The kick was probably aided by the wind but Gwinnett was able to boom punts of 51 and 40 yards into the wind later in the game.
Early in the second quarter, the Sharks were starting to show some life again. Halesworth hit Blum for a 24 yard gain to move the ball in Blitz territory to the 41-yard line. But that was about as far as they could go after Leon got tackled for a 1-yard loss but more importantly got knocked out of the game with a leg injury. She was hurt pretty badly and had to be helped off the field. Leon did not return to play in the game.
Montreal took over possession on their own 40-yard line. They then put the Sharks defense to their biggest test of the day as the Blitz put together a very impressive 17-play drive. It didn't start off well form Montreal as they got hit with a penalty and then fumbled the football to put them back to their own 15-yard line. But a crucial mistake by the Sharks secondary on a pass interfence penalty gave the Blitz a first down and a new life. Rapoport then went to the air and was able to connect with her receivers Anne-Marie Jubinville and Jessica Audet for gains of 11, 7, 5, 6 and 23 yard to move Montreal all the way down to the New York 8-yard line with less than 2 minutes left in the half. But the Sharks defense came through big with a quarterback sack by Missy Marmorale and New York got the ball back on the 17-yard line.
With less than 2 minutes to go in the half, it didn't seem that the Sharks would be able to do much. But Halesworth put the ball in Marmorale's hands and she rambled through for a 57-yard gain. She almost went into the endzone, but a last second push got her out of bounds at Montreal's 36-yard line. Halesworth hit Blum for a 9-yard gain and then Missy was given the ball a few times to move the Sharks down to the Blitz 8-yard line. With only 6 seconds left to go in the half, Coach Sanchez brought in the kicking team. It was a 25-yard field goal attempt, well within the range of kicker Jenny Graf's range, but she hooked it to the right as time ran out for the half.
The Montreal Blitz was quite pleased to head into the halftime scoreless with New York. The Sharks on the other hand was quite frustrated. The Blitz defense was able to stop the Sharks running attack and New York has not been held scoreless going into halftime since the 2002 season.
The Sharks started the second half with the ball but quickly went 3 and out. New York then turned to their new weapon. Gwinnett came in and boomed another punt for 51 yards that bounced through the endzone. The Sharks defense then stuffed the Blitz, forcing them to punt. Lori DeVivio returned the punt 10 yards to give the Sharks a first down on Montreal's 36-yard line. After gaining a first down on the ground, Halesworth went to the air and hit a wide-open Blum for a 26-yard touchdown reception. Graf came in and converted the extra point and the Sharks got on the scoreboard to take a 7-0 lead with 9:09 left in the third quarter.
The Sharks got on the scoreboard again, thanks to some special teams work. New York's defense again stuffed the Blitz offense, forcing them to punt from their own 27-yard line. Veronica "Vicious" Simmons smashed through the line and was able to block the punt. The Sharks recovered the ball on Montreal's 23-yard line. After a Marmorale 7 yard run, Halesworth went to the air and connected with Dana Sparling who made a nice catch for 6 yards. She then hit Blum again for a 10-yard gain and most importantly another touchdown. Graf split the uprights for the extra point and the Sharks had a 14-point lead with 2:02 left in the third quarter. That was Graf's sixth extra point for the season and that ties the Sharks season record for most extra points kicked.
The Sharks' offense was starting to come alive after the two scores. The next time New York got the ball it was on their own 40-yard line. Halesworth alternating plays between Marmorale and Blum was able to move the Sharks down the field in 5 plays. The last play resulted in a 29-yard touchdown pass to Blum. That was the third touchdown catch of the day for Blum, tying a team record which was set by Liz Presto. The Sharks went for the two-point conversion but the Blitz was able to stop Marmorale from getting into the endzone. The touchdown made the score 20-0 with 13:01 left in the game.
With the game almost out of hand, Montreal put together one last gasp to get back in to the game. After the kickoff, the Blitz started on their own 40-yard line. Rapoport went to her main weapon Dykeman. Getting Dykeman the ball either on the ground or in the air, the Bliz marched down the field. On 11 plays they were able to get all the way down to the Sharks 22-yard line before New York's defense put an end to the drive and for all intents and purposes an end to the game.
Jen Blum got a game ball for her 114 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. Darleen "Blue" Hall were given game balls for their play in the game. Hall said, "It's an honor to receive it but I share it with the whole defense because we all did great out there."
The victory for the Sharks was their second shutout in a row for the season. It was also the team's 20th whitewash in Shark history. The team's defense seems to be in mid-season form and their special teams play seems to have picked up quite nicely. But the offense continues to struggle in the first half of a game. It shows some signs of life but too many times the team is turning over the ball disrupting any rhythm. For the past 3 games this season, it has taken a defensive play in the second half to spark the offense to get going.
The Sharks are off next week, but they then fly out to Chicago to take on the Force in a battle for first place. This will be the biggest test for the Sharks coaching staff as the Force are undefeated this year and went undefeated during the regular season last year. It will also pit the struggling Sharks offense against a team that has yet to allow a point all season. The Sharks will be broadcasting the game live from Chicago on www.kedu.us, our flagship station. The broadcast will start at 3:55pm (EDT).
Independent Women's Football League Stories from April 26, 2004
- Sharks win to remain in first place - New York Sharks
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