McWill runs past BaDunc

By Ryan Glassman     11/5/09 6:00pm

The powderpuff playoffs do not begin until a week from Sunday, but one wouldn't know it after watching the past weekend of action. With nine teams vying for four playoff spots, the weekend's slate of games contained a postseason atmosphere as the quality of play reached new levels. Jones College looked to solidify its chances at a playoff berth in its match-up against Brown College, while the game between Sid Richardson College and Martel College provided the most surprising result of the season. But for this week, the spotlight was on the battle between Will Rice College-McMurtry College and Baker College-Duncan College. With each team on the cusp of clinching a spot in the playoffs, the pivotal encounter had major implications for the postseason and, as such, earned Game of the Week honors.

Game of the Week: Will Rice-McMurtry 18, Baker-Duncan 14

McWill and BaDunc don't merely share a pair of conjoined names: They also share a pair of elite running backs. The backfield battle between McWill junior Alex Espinoza and BaDunc senior Jessica Chidi was a showdown between two of the best backs in powderpuff, and the two did not disappoint - Espinoza and Chidi combined to score all five touchdowns in the game. In a seesaw thriller, McWill upended BaDunc 18-14, improving its chances of earning a spot in the playoffs.

---

---

BaDunc was the first squad on the scoreboard, when, on the game's third play, Chidi (13 carries, 149 yards, two TDs) took a handoff to the outside and blew by defenders on a 60-yard touchdown run. After a successful extra-point conversion, BaDunc boasted an early 7-0 lead.

McWill's offense, led by Espinoza (12 touches, 107 yards, three TDs) and junior quarterback Jessi Scully (14/24, 148 yards, two TDs), took the field and moved the ball through the air into BaDunc territory. But after a few passes fell incomplete and McWill failed to convert on fourth-and-four, the ball was turned over to BaDunc at its own 24-yard line. After a fumbled snap and a penalty, the offense was forced into a third-and-15 and had a pass intercepted by McWill junior Alli Scully, setting up McWill on its opponent's 28 as the first quarter came to a close.

Following a pair of short pass plays, McWill stared down a fourth-and-three from the 21 and went to Espinoza on a shovel pass. The junior caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and ran up the middle to the endzone. However, McWill could not convert the extra point and trailed by a score of 7-6.

The teams subsequently exchanged three-and-outs, and BaDunc took over at their own 35 with just over a minute left in the first half. Three consecutive passes of 20-plus yards each put the ball into the red zone, but Chidi was stopped at the eight-yard line on the final play McWill took over to begin the third quarter and orchestrated a spectacular drive that continued into the fourth quarter. The teams combined for seven penalties on the drive, including a defensive penalty after BaDunc made a fourth-down stop that kept the drive alive, as McWill milked the clock with a number of positive running plays and short passes.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, McWill faced a third-and-goal from the one-yard line. Espinoza took the ball and cut back to the middle to put the pigskin across the goal line for the score. McWill led 12-7 with just over nine minutes left, its first lead of the game.

On the next possession, BaDunc went right back to their workhorse, and Chidi quickly moved the ball downfield with a handful of first-down runs. From 27 yards out, Chidi took a hand-off right but promptly reversed her direction, sprinting up the left sideline for the touchdown. With just three minutes left, BaDunc found itself back on top, this time with a 14-12 lead.

McWill's tandem of Scully and Espinoza again proved up to the task as they looked to lead one last drive to the endzone. Scully completed three straight passes to open the drive, moving McWill inside opposing territory with 1:30 left.

Following a penalty on the defense, McWill was down at the 31-yard line with plenty of time left for the go-ahead score. BaDunc's defensive unit, however, forced three consecutive incompletions and brought the game down to one final play. With 1:15 left, McWill called a timeout to draw up the play on fourth-and-10 from the 31.

Scully took the snap under center and dropped back before heaving a pass deep down the right sideline. The perfect throw was caught in stride by Espinoza, who got past the final level of defense and scored to give McWill an 18-14 lead.

BaDunc took over on the 35 with just one minute left, but did not move the ball and instead turned it over on a fourth-and-30 to end the game. Led by clutch performances from Scully and Espinoza, McWill came out on top in pursuit of a playoff spot.

Sid Rich 19, Martel 0

No typo here - for the first time in over two seasons Martel suffered a loss, falling to Sid in one of the most shocking results in recent memory. Sid senior quarterback Ashley Thompson threw a touchdown in the first quarter to junior Michelle Li, putting Sid on top 6-0.

In the second quarter, Thompson connected with senior Salome Vanwoerden for another passing score, giving Sid a 12-0 halftime lead. Vanwoerden notched her second touchdown of the game in the second half, a reception that put Sid up 19-0.

But the story of the game was Sid's defense, which contained Martel senior Lauren McCauley en route to its fourth consecutive shutout. Sid senior Jenny Kingsley and freshman Leticia Comin contributed second-half interceptions to keep the game out of reach.

Wiess 7, McWill 0

Striking early, Wiess College marched down the field on the first series of the game, with sophomore running back Alice Fa scoring the touchdown for the Battlesows. A pass from junior quarterback Rachel Jackson to junior fullback Molly Bryan scored the extra point.

Those seven points would be all Wiess needed, with senior linebackers Linda Chiang and Lauren Schoeffler both picking off McWill junior quarterback Jessi Scully. The Battlesow defense contained Espinoza and Scully to stop McWill's final drive of the game, which took up the bulk of the fourth quarter.

Jones 13, Brown 7

Junior receiver Gabi Quart caught a pass from junior quarterback Valicia Miller on Brown's opening drive, but Jones failed to convert the extra point. Neither team scored again until Jones, with five minutes left in the half, brought it in on a quarterback sweep.

Brown answered with a 65-yard drive, complete with the extra point, to close out the first half.

In the second half, penalties killed a lengthy offensive drive for Brown, and on third-and-40, Brown went for a simple dump off a screen which netted about 38 yards, but an intentional charge call forced them to punt. The Jones offense moved the ball through the air effectively but Brown stopped them from scoring in the second half.

Brown got the ball back with three minutes to go in the game and moved the ball to the Jones 40. With the chance to score on fourth and two, the pass went over the head of the Brown receiver, securing Jones the win.

Lovett 6, Hanszen 0

Hanszen was unable to pull out another win on Sunday, as Lovett's speedy offense pulled together to win 6-0. Lovett scored late in the third quarter when senior Alison Bettis caught a pass from junior Claire Pawlik and took it 65 yards. Bettis was halted just before the endzone, but on the next play Lovett junior Boahemaa Adu-Oppong ran the ball in for a touchdown.

Lovett senior Erin Finn continued her stellar performance this season, making yet another interception on defense and bringing her season interception count to nine.

---