Queens, New York, April 27, 2002
It is early in the season, but the game between New York and Bay State was billed as a preview to the IWFL’s Eastern Divison playoff picture. Both teams had easily defeated their opponents the week before and both teams had plenty of veterans on their roster. Many on the Bay State roster had played last year for the New England Storm and they included three Olympic athletes. When you throw in the usual New York – New England rivalry, this game looked big.
Well so much for the hype.
The Sharks (2-0) handily defeated the Bay State Warriors (1-1) by the score of 40-0. New York dominated in all aspects of the game that the score alone made the game appear closer than it was. The offense was in fine form, but it was the defense that really shone. Besides getting their fifth shutout in nine games (over the past 2 seasons), the Sharks held the Warriors to a total offense of -6 yards. That is not a typo, Bay State was held to minus 6 yards.
New York started the domination early. They won the coin toss and elected to receive the kick. Starting at their own 42 yard line, the Sharks handed the ball repeatedly to running back Lakisha Grant who with the help of her offensive line punished Bay State yard after yard. On the 7th play of the drive, the Sharks scored on a 4 yard pass from Val Halesworth to Val “Peanut” Monaco to make it 6-0.
On defense, New York was dominating. They not only were able to stop Bay State from scoring, they were able to push them back towards their own goal line. Still in the first quarter, the Sharks linebacker Missy Marmorale sacked the quarterback for a 10 yard loss and then another 13 yards was lost as Bay State fumbled the ball to their own 1 yard line. New York recovered the ball and then on the next play, Halesworth ran it in to make the score 12-0 with 4:04 left in the quarter.
After the kickoff, the Sharks defense did it again. On a second down play and 17 yards to go from their own 29 yard line, the Warriors quarterback was intercepted by Courtney Eaton who ran it all the way back for another New York touchdown. To top it off, Eaton than ran it in for the 2 point conversion to push the Sharks lead to 20-0.
It looked like everything was going for New York in the first quarter, but Grant who was playing defense as well as offense was injured. While covering a Bay State receiver, she ran into a referee and hurt her knee. She had to be helped off the field and was taken to the hospital. She did not return to the game.
In the second quarter, New York continued to roll. The Sharks scored twice, once on a 1 yard run by Eaton with the two point conversion on a pass to Liz Presto. This made the score 28-0.
The Sharks defense soon struck again recovering a Bay State fumble on the Warriors own 24 yard line. 5 plays later, Monaco scored her second touchdown of the game on a 4 yard pass from Halesworth. This made the score at halftime, New York 34 – Bay State 0.
In the third quarter, the Sharks scored their last touchdown of the game. It was set-up on a sack by Darleen “Blue” Hall that gave the Sharks the ball on Bay States 29 yard line. Eaton punched the ball in from the 2 yard line for her third touchdown of the game. This made the final score 40-0.
The Warriors had their best offensive series at the end of the third quarter. They started on their own 36 yard line and had an 18 play series. It was a nice mix of running and passing plays. They were also helped by 3 Sharks penalties. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the drive ended on New York’s 15 yard line with a fumble. That was the closest that Bay State ever came to scoring.
The game balls were given to the defense for their shutout and holding Bay State to minus offensive yards and to Courtney Eaton for her scoring 3 touchdowns, two on offense and one on defense. Kudos were also given to Monica Marsh, Debra Wasilewski, and Denise Wasilewski who played both offense and defense throughout most of the game.
The first place Sharks will get a week off before hosting the Detroit Blaze on saturday, May 11th at August Martin High School at 3pm. The Blaze are an expansion team and this will be their first game ever.