Maritime Women's Football League
2009 Game Summaries

Week 7: July 18-19 "Semi-Finals"

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Storm have the opportunity to defend their championship title next week after downing the Capital Area Gladiators 32-6 in semifinal action of the Women's Maritime Football League Sunday.

The Storm will meet the Moncton Vipers to battle for the SupHer Bowl VI, on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Millidgeville field. Moncton downed the Halifax Xplosion 70-0 Saturday.

Saint John running back Tammy Sanders got things started in the semifinal with a 15-yard touchdown run halfway through the first quarter. Terry Shannon kicked the extra two points for an early 8-0 lead.

Quarterback Lisa Harlow went for a 25-yard run to position her team 30 yards away from the Gladiators end zone late in the first half. In the next play, Harlow slipped the ball to Lori Boyles, who broke left and handed off to Michelle Young-Mather for a reverse that undressed the Gladiators defence and allowed an easy touchdown sprint. Shannon kicked the convert to make it 16-0 heading into the final 30 minutes.

The Storm were determined to keep their opponent off the board in the final half. Linebacker Lisa Rogers set the standard with a crushing tackle at midfield, drawing cheers from the 120 fans at Millidgeville North.

However, Gladiators' quarterback Alex Black ran the ball off the draw, dancing around the Storms defenders for an impressive 60-yard touchdown run to put her squad on the board with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

"I called a passing play, but no one was open. So I just chose a path and ran it," Black said.

The Storm didn't waste time quelling any Gladiators momentum. Young-Mather drove 30 yards in the next series before getting tackled at the edge of the end zone. Harlow sprinted across the line for a touchdown and Shannon kicked again to close the quarter at 24-6 for the Storm.

"We had to come right back and score there because it was nearly a one-touchdown game. We wanted to make sure that we shut it down and not give them a chance to get the ball rolling," Larry Harlow, the Storm coach said.

Young-Mather deflated any hope for a Gladiators comeback when she punched through the line on a double reverse deep in the fourth quarter. Shannon had another conversion for a 32-6 decision.

Steve Drisdelle, the Gladiators coach, said a couple of errors prevented what could have been a very close game.

"We moved the ball very well; there were just a few times where we missed a key play or didn't get the receiving that we should have," Drisdelle said.

The Gladiators ended the regular season at 4-2. They face the Halifax Xplosion (0-6 in the regular season) for the Friendship Bowl at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Millideville field.

"(The Gladiators) and Halifax have a good relationship, and I feel we'll both just try to have fun and have a good day promoting women's football," Drisdelle said.

The championship bout won't be nearly as friendly.

The Vipers likely still have a bad taste in their mouth from the 24-14 loss to Saint John in the 2008 SupHer Bowl contest.

This year, the two teams couldn't be any more evenly matched. Each handed the other their only regular season loss, for a 5-1 record. Over six games, the Storm outscored their opponents 212-28, compared with the Vipers at 212-44.

"It's going to be one of the best games people can see," Harlow said.

"You've got a battle of defenses coming up. It's going to be a championship game, that's for sure."

Harlow said a Kick for Kids contest will take place during the halftime of each game. For $2, spectators can enter a draw to kick the pigskin for various prizes assigned to every five-yard line.

"There's a car sitting on the 45-yard line, two airplane tickets on the 40-yard line. There are a lot of prizes up for grabs," Harlow said.

All proceeds go to P.R.O. Kids, an organization which pays registration fees for families who can't afford to enroll their children in sports.

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Storm have the opportunity to defend their championship title this coming week after downing the Capital Area Lady Curves Gladiators 32-6 in semifinal action in the Maritime Senior Women's Football League Sunday.

The Storm will meet the Moncton Vipers to battle for the SupHer Bowl VI on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Millidgeville field.

Saint John running back Tammy Sanders got things started in the semifinal with a 15-yard touchdown run halfway through the first quarter. Terry Shannon kicked the extra two points for an early 8-0 lead.

Quarterback Lisa Harlow went for a 25-yard run to position her team 30 yards away from the Gladiators end zone late in the first half.

In the next play, Harlow slipped the ball to Lori Boyles, who broke left and handed off to Michelle Young-Mather for a reverse that undressed the Gladiators defence and allowed an easy touchdown sprint. Shannon kicked the convert to make it 16-0 heading into the final 30 minutes.

The Storm were determined to keep their opponent off the board in the final half. Linebacker Lisa Rogers set the standard with a crushing tackle at midfield, drawing cheers from the 120 fans at Millidgeville North. However, Gladiators' quarterback Alex Black ran the ball off the draw, dancing around the Storms defenders for an impressive 60-yard touchdown run to put her squad on the board with 2:56 left in the third quarter. "I called a passing play, but no one was open. So I just chose a path and ran it," Black said.

The Storm didn't waste time quelling any Gladiators momentum. Young-Mather drove 30 yards in the next series before getting tackled at the edge of the end zone. Harlow sprinted across the line for a touchdown and Shannon kicked again to close the quarter at 24-6 for the Storm.

"We had to come right back and score there because it was nearly a one-touchdown game. We wanted to make sure that we shut it down and not give them a chance to get the ball rolling," Larry Harlow, the Storm coach said.

Young-Mather deflated any hope for a Gladiators comeback when she punched through the line on a double reverse deep in the fourth quarter. Shannon had another conversion for a 32-6 decision.

Steve Drisdelle, the Gladiators coach, said a couple of errors prevented what could have been a very close game.

"We moved the ball very well. There were just a few times where we missed a key play or didn't get the receiving that we should have," Drisdelle said. The Gladiators ended the regular season at 4-2. They face the Halifax Xplosion (0-6 in the regular season) for the Friendship Bowl at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Millideville field.

"(The Gladiators) and Halifax have a good relationship, and I feel we'll both just try to have fun and have a good day promoting women's football," Drisdelle said.

The championship bout won't be nearly as friendly.

The Vipers likely still have a bad taste in their mouth from the 24-14 loss to Saint John in the 2008 SupHer Bowl contest.

This year, the two teams couldn't be any more evenly matched. Each handed the other their only regular season loss, for a 5-1 record. Over six games, the Storm outscored their opponents 212-28, compared with the Vipers at 212-44, both considerable spreads.

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Storm will battle the Capital Area Gladiators in the Maritime Women's Football League semifinal Sunday at 4 p.m. at Millidgeville Field. The Storm finished the regular season in second place (5-1), the Gladiators ended in third (2-4). In other MWFL semifinal action, the first-place Moncton Vipers (5-1) take on the Halifax Xplosion (0-6) today at Rocky Stone Field. The Maritime SupHer Bowl and Friendship Bowl are up for grabs next week.

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Storm looks to start to begin defence of its Maritime Women's Football League title this weekend at home. After going undefeated in 2008, the Storm stumbled in the first game of 2009 but recovered to finish the season with a 5 -1 record. Saint John ended with 212 points for and only 28 points against. The Moncton Vipers (5-1) were the only team to score against Saint John this season and took first place by outscoring the Storm by six points in head-to-head matches. The Storm will kick off Sunday at 4 p.m. at Millidgeville field against the third-place Capital Area Gladiators. Moncton will face the last-place Halifax Xplosion on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Rocky Stone field. Saint John will host the Maritime finals at Millidgeville July 25.