Miscues and Montreal Spoil Intensity Home Opener
MEDWAY, MA -
The New England Intensity of the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) held their first home game of the 2008 season on Saturday, April 26 at the Joseph Hanlon Memorial Field at Medway High School.
They hosted the high-flying Montreal Blitz. A team that entered the contest 2-0 with an impressive victory the previous week over early division favorite (and 2007 division winner) Manchester [NH] Freedom. Incidentally, the Blitz defeated New England in their lone meeting last year, 28-21 in Montreal. The Intensity, fresh off a win of their own (37-6, at the Southern Maine Rebels on 4/19) and a very productive week of practice and preparation, felt up for the task. Time would prove otherwise as a few untimely penalties, a couple instances of poor execution, and some superb play by Montreal would leave the home team on the business end of a 28-0 score?though the game was significantly closer than the final would indicate.
The warm sun of the afternoon became a cool overcast as the game progressed, leading to record sales of hot chocolate at the concession stand! The action on the field was hot right from the first series as well. Montreal elected to receive the ball and rattled off a 28 yard return?negating a solid 45 yard kick by Michelle Hicks.
New England's defense, the line in particular, played well most of the game and the first drive was no exception. Captain Jennifer ?Coco' Edwards (2 solo tackles and 3 assists) was in on the first two stops (short runs of 2 and 5 yards), and DB Lizz Vogel (2 solo tackles, 3 assists, 1 INT, 1 pass defended) moved into a 3-way tie for the all-time franchise lead for interceptions by picking off the visitor's attempt on 3rd and 3.
The offense took the field on it's own 45 yard line and RB/LB and Captain Steph Samuelson picked up a first down on runs of 7 and 4 yards. Then the mental errors started . . . a fumble on the exchange (that New England was able to recover) followed by a false start forced this series to end in a punt. Fortunately, DB/LB/WR Lisa Close was able to run down the short kick and down it just outside of the 20 yard line of Montreal.
Despite starting deep in their own territory, Montreal, on the second play of the drive, completed a 76-yard touchdown pass that, along with the successful PAT, put them up 7-0 with 7:16 remaining in the first quarter.
A well-covered kickoff held WR/DB Tricia Donovan to just 10 yards on the return (to the NE 33). Montreal, very much on a high from their long touchdown strike, played inspired defense and, with the help of an illegible man downfield call against the Intensity, forced a 3-and-out.
The Blitz had some penalty issues of their own during the game, the first being a holding call that negated a solid 21-yard return and pinning them back inside their 20. The Intensity defense, aware that they had some ground they could afford to give, played the bend-don't-break style and although surrendering a long run (13 yards) and a long pass (26 yards), they ultimately forced a turnover on downs due largely to a well-defended pass by Vogel, and solid tackling for little-to-no gain by LB/FB Kate Miechkowski, and DTs Torrance Brown and Maia Goodall.
The New England Offense, taking over on their own 36, went right to work with Samuelson cruising ahead for steady gains of 5, 8, 7, and 7 yards (due largely to some outstanding work by the O-line who's primary focus at practice the week prior was exploding across the line when run blocking). Sadly, a holding call followed by a false start two plays later put a halt to this drive, forcing NE to punt again?just when they were getting some momentum. To make matters worse, a personnel mix-up resulted in the left side of the punt coverage exposed and Montreal wisely responded by running to that side . . . for a 37 yard return before Coco and Samuelson could track her down just the other side of the New England 40.
Two plays later, the Blitz executed a well-designed pass play that ended up going 41 yards for a TD. Another successful PAT and The Intensity was now down 14-0 with just over 6 minutes to play in the first half.
On 3rd and 6, New England fumbled another exchange. The good news is they, once again, recovered the fumble, but this time 14 yards behind scrimmage all the way back to the 15 yard line. With Hicks set to punt from within her 5 yard line, Montreal would certainly be bringing the pressure to try and block the punt. This pressure leaked through on the right side and partially blocked the punt which they recovered on the Intensity 9 yard line.
Tough interior play backing the line by LB/OL Anita Barnes and LB Kelly Kraynak (5 tackle assists in her first game back and in reduced minutes) bought New England some time and, along with a 5 yard penalty for an ineligible man downfield, forced the visitors back to the 14. It was just postponing what seemed to be the inevitable though, as Blitz QB Saadia Ashraf connected for her 3rd TD of the first half. The Blitz would finish with 214 yards in the air and 70 on the ground.
Down 21-0 with less than 2 minutes in the 2nd quarter, and with the offense having shot itself in the foot multiple times before it could really even get going, New England was hoping for a break on the kickoff to get decent field position and possibly put up some quick points before the half ended. No such luck as Montreal boomed a 60 yarder that Donovan fielded on the 5 and was able to get to the 20 with. Three effective runs by Samuelson kept the offense moving, but time was too much a factor and the half would expire before the home team was in sniffing distance of the end zone.
Donovan opened the 2nd half with a 27 yard return; however, another offensive series and another false start penalty, ultimately led to another turnover on downs?not the start that anyone (staff or players) had wanted for the second half. On a positive note, OL/DL/TE and Captain Kim Herrig made her first career reception on the drive (as a side note, this is her first seeing time as Tight End).
Montreal's high-octane offense picked up right where it left off and after a few quick plays found themselves 1st and 10 from the New England 30. Enter Game Day MVP Kate Miechkowski (who ended the day with a team leading 3 solo tackles and 6 assists), who fired into the backfield and brought down the elusive Montreal QB for a 10-yard loss. To make matters even better [for NE], Kate also caused a fumble on the play that Montreal was able to recover?but 6 yards further back from where the sack/fumble took place! The best The Blitz could muster from the 2nd and 26 they now found themselves in was a 53 yard field goal attempt (after failing to gain first down yardage on the two plays following the sack/fumble) that fell well short.
New England now found itself with decent field position (their 43 yard line) and a ton of time left (about 6:00 remaining in the 3rd). But the troubling trend of ?shooting themselves in the foot' for the "O" continued as, on the first play from scrimmage, QB Bridget Cambria was intercepted for a touchdown that pushed the Montreal lead to 28-0.
With the light sprinkles that began to fall seemingly in synch with the ?when it rains, it pours' adage that aptly described the home team's fortunes that afternoon, New England fumbled and lost the ensuing kickoff. The Blitz, up by four touchdowns, were now on the NE 36 and poised to ice the game with another score. The Intensity D would have none of that, rising to Coach Twitchell's halftime challenge to raise their level of play. A combination of good pass coverage, solid run stopping, and an incessant chasing of the QB by the D Line bore fruit again as the hurried field general for the Blitz made a mental error and was called for intentional grounding (and a 10 yard penalty), that forced the visiting team to squander the excellent field position they had.
The question was once asked ?Do you get the feeling you have seen this movie before?'. The normally sure-handed Donovan was stripped of the ball on the punt return and Montreal would take over a scant 15 yards from the endzone. Scenes of ?Remember the Titans' came to mind when seeing the defense confidently stride back on to the field . . . "Ain't no mountain high enough . . ."?more on this vibe from the team later. The point is they held:
On successive plays, Coco stuffed the run for a two yard loss, Goodall and DE Suzanne Dubey combined for a sack that set the Blitz back 5 yards, and Miechkowski and BD/RB Lisa Vincent stopped a run after a very short gain. The 35 yard FG attempt by Montreal bounced off of the crossbar--no good.
Runs by Saumelson (85 total yards on 16 carries for a 5.3 yd average) and RB/OLB Jojo Gauthier (6 tackle assists) gave the Intensity two first downs on the ground. A sack for a 6 yard loss, a short run and an incomplete pass brought the punt team back out, where Barnes (3 assists) and Donovan (1 solo, 4 assists) stopped the Blitz returner for short yards.
The D would force another 3 and out behind stops by Gauthier, Miechkowski and Barnes. The visitors would pooch and down their punt inside the NE 30. As was alluded to earlier, this 2008 Intensity squad had every opportunity (perhaps even just reason) to hang their head and implode but did exactly the opposite. They upped their level of play and their support of each other and continued to fight hard for the full 60 minutes!
More bad luck befell the hosts as Samuelson had nothing but green grass in front of her as she turned the corner around the right side of the line heading up field on what would have been a 57 yard TD run . . . except that the ball came loose and rolled out of bounds just short of midfield. Two plays later, Cambria threw her second pick of the day and the game would end soon thereafter.
The Intensity extends it's gratitude to the Blitz organization for making the trek down from Canada and for playing a hard and fair game.
New England, while disappointed in the outcome, was pleased with several other aspects of this contest. Notably, the O Line's improvement on run blocking, the play of the defense in the 2nd half (holding Montreal to no points scored on the defense for the last two quarters), and the never say die attitude of the team as a whole. A key penalty or two less and a couple fewer mental lapses and the score of this one would have been radically different.
The Intensity will host the Holyoke Hurricanes, also 1-1, next Saturday, May 3rd, in the Massachusetts version of the ?Backyard Brawl' as they look to bounce back from this tough loss. Show your support for your team and help them get back in the win column!! Kickoff is at 5pm, and admission is only $10.00 (children under 12 are free) with special group rates available. First-rate concessions are available and it is fun, family-friendly atmosphere.
