Maritime Women's Football League
2009 Game Summaries

Week 3: June 20

Vipers women's team improves to 3-0

The Moncton Vipers shut out the Halifax Xplosion 48-0 Saturday in Maritime Women's Football League action at Rocky Stone.

The Vipers were led by Tina Hetherington and Darby Thibodeau with two touchdowns each.

Thibodeau added two-point conversions on all six Moncton touchdowns. Justine Barter and Amanda Weir also scored for the Vipers, who sit in first place with a 3-0 record.

Moncton led 32-0 at halftime. With the loss, Halifax fell to 0-3.

The Vipers visit the Saint John Storm (2-1) Saturday at 4 p.m.

FREDERICTON - Lori Boyles had two rushing touchdowns for a combined 108 yards to lead the Saint John Storm to a 36-0 victory over the host Capital Area Gladiators Saturday in Maritime Women's Football League action.

Boyles took advantage of huge holes opened by the offensive line of Erin Devlin, Tracy Rector, Mary Greer, Amy Salter, Merab Klein and Kelly Constantine on a rainy afternoon at Chapman Field. Lisa Harlow started off the scoring in the first quarter, scoring a TD off a 15-yard run.

Sherri Rowe added a 25-yard TD run and Kendra Jones sprinted two yards for the other major.

Terri Shannon kicked three two-point converts in the winning effort as the Storm improved to 2-1, while the Gladiators fell to 1-2.

With the five touchdowns, the Storm added $50 to their Touchdown For Kids program, now at $150. The money goes to P.R.O. Kids to support local youth.

Meanwhile, the Moncton Vipers pounded the Halifax Xplosion 48-0 Saturday to extend their record to 3-0, dropping the Xplosion to 0-3.

What is it about the game of football that makes its participants sacrifice personal safety and well-being on an often cold, mud-filled and messy field of battle?

The answer could be found in a cold, soaking wet downpour on Saturday at UNB's Chapman Field, as the Saint John Storm blew into Fredericton to beat up on the Capital Area "Curves" Lady Gladiators to tune of 36-0 in Maritime Senior Women's Football League action.

Perhaps it could be classified under no other heading than, 'passion for the game.'

To endure these elements, one has to really love the game of football. In contrast to their senior football male counterparts just the night before at the same venue, the Storm and the Lady Gladiators did not commit any turnovers. Remarkable, given the wet conditions on the field. But that seemed to suit Saint John's Sherry Rowe just fine.

"I felt like a fish out there,'' said Rowe. "At times, I felt like I had eyes on the sides of my head. I was really seeing the field well. I don't know what it was but I was finding all the holes."

Rowe was on fire from start to finish, ending the game with a 60-yard scamper from scrimmage that led to a Lisa Harlow five-yard TD run. Rowe ended the game with 140 yards rushing on six carries and a touchdown. Impressive statistics for a woman who only started playing the sport this season.

Veteran coach Larry Harlow agreed. "Sherry is doing very well for a rookie who only has experience playing touch football," Harlow stated. "She's really starting to come into her own and becoming a great asset to our team."

Although the score might seem lopsided, Lady Gladiators head coach Steve Drisdelle did not seem the least bit concerned with the outcome.

"Rowe was impressive, the Storm team was impressive, but it wasn't as bad as the score might suggest," Drisdelle said. "We had three or four key defenders out and people back there playing who had never played defence before. We'll regroup and come back strong next week against Halifax with everyone back. I'm sure of it."

The loss dropped the Lady Gladiators' mark to 1-2, coming on the heels of a 46-14 loss in their home opener against the Moncton Vipers last weekend. The Vipers, incidentally, improved to 3-0 with a 48-0 pounding of Halifax in Saturday's other league game. The Storm is 2-1 on the season, having blitzed Halifax 71-0 but losing to the Vipers in their season opener.

Drisdelle cited Lady Glads' quarterback Alex Black (who completed three of 17 passes for 52 yards and ran for another 34 on six rushes) as the key for future success.

"Alex is humble and is easily the best player in the league, " Drisdelle said. "She's a player that teams 'game plan' around."

Other than Black, the only Lady Gladiator to generate any more than 25 yards in total offense on this day was fullback Connie Timmons who ran the ball nine times for 35 yards. Leading the Lady Gladiators in reception yardage was Susan LeBlanc who caught one pass for 25 yards.

In contrast, the Storm had two 100-yard rushers in Rowe and running back Lori Bowles who collected 115 yards on eight carries) and a QB who only needed to pass three times.

Lisa Harlow completed all three for 10 yards and ran for 13 yards on five carries and two touchdowns. As a team the Storm ran for a total of 341 yards on 27 carries.

The Lady Gladiators will need 'all hands on deck,' as Drisdelle puts it, Saturday when they host Halifax Xplosion at Leo Hayes Field at 5 p.m.