Brooklyn, New York, April 29, 2006
A new season, a new ballpark, a new opponent, a new coaching staff, and no rain for opening day! There was a whole lotta new going around as the New York Sharks (1-0) opened up their 5th season in the IWFL. The only problem for the Indianapolis Chaos (0-1) was the Sharks had the same old results, as New York won for the 40th regular season game in a row, 73-0.
The Sharks were playing for the first time in their new home at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York. Game time temperature was 60 degrees with a slight breeze. The skies were clear with the sun shining brightly. This broke a string of 5 home openers with rain.
The new Sharks brain trust headed by Debra Vance while confident were nervous about the new season. The Sharks had quite a bit of turnover during the off-season and the loss of starting wide receiver Jen Blum for the first half of the season due to a back injury wasn’t calming anyone’s nerves.
The game started off with the Sharks winning the coin toss, but coach Vance wanted to test her defense first and allowed Indianapolis to receive the ball. New comer Amber Knighten started the game off by kicking off to the Chaos.
The Chaos had traveled to New York city from Indianapolis by bus. It was an 18-hour bus ride that didn’t end until they got to the ballpark about 2 hours before game time. Being cramped up in a bus for that length of time is not the best way to take on the Sharks and it showed. The Chaos ran three plays and had to punt. The snap of the punt was high and the punter was only able to quick kick. The ball went up in the air like a small pop fly and landed only 4 yards ahead of the line of scrimmage on the Chaos 41-yard line.
New York had the ball and what every Sharks fan was interested in seeing was the new Sharks offense. Led by new quarterback Karen Mulligan, Shark Nation wanted to get a good look at the new general on offense. But it was a very short look. After a short 4 yard run by Kathy Holloman, Mulligan faked another hand off to Holloman but kept the ball and ran down the left sideline untouched for a 37-yard touchdown run. Rookie Emily Pelletier came onto the field for the extra point but missed wide. But she would get plenty of practice as the day wore on. With the game less than 4 minutes old, the Sharks were already in front, 6-0.
The Sharks defense again shut down the Chaos and forced them to punt after only 3 downs. This time Indianapolis was able to get a decent punt off. The punt was caught by rookie Adrienne Smith at the New York 48-yard line. Using her blazing speed and a couple of key blocks, she ran the ball in for a touchdown. The 52-yard touchdown return was the second longest in Sharks history, only second to Liz Presto‘s 72 touchdown return against Albany in 2003. The Sharks converted on the 2-point play when Mulligan pitched out to Holloman with 8:40 left in the first quarter.
The Sharks struck again after Knighten tipped a Chaos quarterback Melissa Nufrio pass. Before the ball could hit the ground Mandy Oppel was Mandy-on-the-spot and caught the ball for an interception on the New York 46-yard line.
Mulligan showed that she can throw and hit Junko Tanida with a 13-yard pass completion. But then she went back to the running game and after moving the ball down to the Indianapolis 19-yard line, the ball was pitched to rookie Yumi Warner who ran it in from the right side in for another touchdown. Pelletier came in and on her second try connected for the extra point. This stretched New York’s lead to 21-0 with 4:37 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Sharks continued their onslaught of Indianapolis. New York scored on touchdown runs by Holloman and Mulligan. Then Smith showed Shark fans that this team is not your mother’s Shark team. With her blazing speed she returned another punt for a 45-yard touchdown return. She caught the ball on the Indianapolis 45-yard line and ran to her right but came face to face with a wall of Chaos defenders at the 30-yard line. She quickly put on the brakes and then went directly stage-left. She ran towards the other side of the field before she saw an opening and put on her after burners for New York’s sixth touchdown of the game.
In the beginning of the third quarter with the Sharks leading 42-0, coach Vance put in Michelle Brown at quarterback. Brown had some trouble with her backfield in the beginning but soon settled down and she had the Sharks light up the scoreboard again. The first time was on a 25-yard touchdown run by Holloman and then a 42-yard scamper by Oppel to extend the Sharks lead to 54-0 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter began after rookie Blessing Withers intercepted a Chaos pass and returned the ball to the Indianapolis 12-yard line. Smith became the Sharks signal caller to start the final quarter and she started it by handing the ball off to Warner. Warner ran the ball in for a touchdown, but it got called back due to an illegal formation penalty. Warner got the ball again and was quickly in the endzone, but it was called back on an illegal block in the back penalty. The third time might have been the charm as Smith kept the ball herself and ran the ball in for a score, but that was called back too. Three plays, three touchdowns, but three penalties. The fourth time, Smith showed that she could throw as well as run as she hit receiever Lisa Doran on a 21-yard pass for another New York touchdown. This time there were no flags on the floor and New York had scored for ninth touchdown in the game.
The Sharks closed out the game when Holloman took a pitchout to the right and not only using her speed but her power as she broke tackle after tackle to score on a 70-yard run. Holloman ended the day with 161 yards rushing on only 6 touches. It was enough to earn her the offensive game ball. The defensive game ball was given to Brown.
The Sharks will host the Delaware Griffins next week on Saturday, May 6th at Brooklyn Tech High School. The game was originally to be played in Delaware but because of difficulty in getting a field in time in Delaware, the game was shifted to New York. Kick-off time is 4pm and ticket prices are only $5. If you cannot make it to the game, you can still follow all the hard hitting football action. Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell will describe all of the action on our flagship radio station WFN Radio – the Women’s Football Network.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Chaos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Sharks | 21 | 21 | 12 | 19 | 73 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NY – (11:40) Mulligan 37 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (08:40) Smith 52 yard punt return (Holloman run)
NY – (04:37) Warner 19 yard run (Pelletier kick)
Second Quarter
NY – (11:59) Holloman 26 yard run (Pelletier kick)
NY – (06:12) Mulligan 13 yard run (Pelletier kick)
NY – (4:52) Smith 45 yard punt return (Pelletier kick)
Third Quarter
NY – (10:14) Holloman 25 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (06:44) Oppel 42 yard run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
NY – (12:46) Doran 21 yard pass from Smith (kick failed)
NY – (11:57) Warner 30 yard run (Pelletier kick)
NY – (06:29) Holloman 70 yard run (kick failed)