MEDWAY, MA - The New England Intensity of the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL), unable to contain the prolific running attack of the Manchester Freedom, lost 49-8 in New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon, 5/17/08.  As a result, the Intensity dropped to 3-2 on the season.

Injuries to key players (notably starting DT/OL Torrance Brown and Captain/Starting OL/DL Kim Herrig) put the Intensity behind the 8-ball before the opening kickoff?though both players tried to play, with Herrig lasting into the 3^rd quarter, they were just not able to bring to bear all that they are capable of when not injured.

Brown and Herrig's injuries did open up the door for reserve line players Lesley Lopes and Nancy O'Loughlin (5 tackle assists), both of whom played quite admirably in expanded roles in this contest, as well as Toni Cann, Pam Curtis and Kim Kisiel.

The Freedom's dominant running game led a ground assault that ended up with over 400 yards, and four TD runs of over 10 yards (two of those for over 45 yards).   Said Head Coach Bob Twitchell, "As soon as we are able to tackle #25 [the Freedom running back], we can favorably compete against this team.  We match up well with them if we can do a better job tackling.  There were several plays where we had her in the backfield, but tried to arm tackle or tackle her high and that is just not going to work?we told the team that you cannot do this, a few of them got it later in the game and were successfully tackling her low." 

The game was rather close up until about midway through the 3^rd quarter.  The home team received the opening kickoff and was held to a 6 yard return on a nice play by LB Kelly Kraynak (1 solo tackle, 8 tackle assists).  Kraynak would be in on 3 other tackles in the ensuing 10-play, 7-minute drive that ended in a TD for Manchester.   The Freedom completed their only pass (of 6 total attempts) of the day on this drive?for a mere 4 yards.  Also of note on this drive was a sack by Captain and Game Day MVP Coco Edwards (1 solo tackles, 5 tackle assists) and OL/DL Maia Goodall, temporarily stymieing the Manchester Offense.

New England, eager to get on the scoreboard themselves, would begin their opening series on their 40 yard line after a 15 yard kickoff return by QB/DB Tricia Donovan (65 total kickoff return yards).  Captain and RB/LB Steph Samuelson was called on early and often on this drive and she delivered . . . rattling off  4 runs of over 5 yards apiece with two first downs gained in that stretch.  A late-hit penalty on Manchester would aide the effort as NE found themselves in the red zone.   Tough D by the home squad forced a 30-yard field goal attempt that was blocked?a disappointing end to a promising drive.

The Freedom went right back to work on offense, manufacturing another 10 play drive that extended into the opening minutes of the 2^nd quarter before they punched in their second score of the day.   If not for a run-down tackle by Donovan, they would have scored on the first play of this drive, instead the Freedom run was stopped after picking up 36 yards.  DL Suzanne Dubey picked up three of her team-leading 10 tackle assists on this drive, and O'Loughlin had 3 as well, but their efforts, alas, were not enough to keep Manchester out of the Endzone.

Unbowed by this, the Intensity kickoff return team gave Samuelson enough of a seam to work her magic and she fought hard for a 43 yard return, setting NE up on the NH 39 yard line.  The offense got runs of 6 and 11 yards by LB/RB Jojo Gauthier and Samuelson, respectively, pushing the ball inside the 25 yard line of Manchester.  Two plays later, a Donovan pass would be intercepted and the visitors would come away empty-handed again.

The Freedom, eager to score again in the first half, found challenge against the spirited play of the New England Defense.  Kraynak and rookie DB/RB Lisa Vincent combined for two tackles, and O'Loughlin teamed up with rookie LB/DB Andrea Covelli for another stop.  Shutdown DB Lizz Vogel successfully defended a long pass attempt, as did Kraynak, and Manchester was forced to punt?a 23-yarder that went out of bounds, wisely avoiding the explosive punt return team of New England.

Hoping to post some points before the break, the NE offense resumed their rushing attack.  Samuelson picked up 11 tough yards for another 1^st down on 2^nd and 11 to bring the Intensity to the NH 30.  Vincent would bring the blue 5 yards closer still, but a miscue on 4^th and 5 led to a sack and New England would turn the ball over on downs having a 3^rd time been inside the 25 and leaving without any points.

Coach Twitchell implored his defense to step up big again because another Freedom touchdown before halftime could potentially put the game out of reach.  The defense did not disappoint.  Although surrendering another large 1^st down play (this one for 19 yards), they buckled down and got tough solo tackles for minimal yards by Captain LB/OL Anita Barnes (1 solo tackle, 3 tackle assists) and Vincent (2 solo, 2 assists), forcing The Freedom to try and air the ball out.  Kraynak had other plans, as she picked off the pass attempt at the NE 30 and returned it for 10 yards.

As the England starting to use a hurry-up offense to move the ball downfield with under 2 minutes to go in the half, in an increasingly-familiar (and unfortunate) theme, the NE offense would be its own worst enemy.  An illegal player downfield penalty negated a 21-yard pass play that would have put NE 1^st and 10 from the Manchester 20. The half would end on the next play with the score Manchester 14, New England 0.

On the Intensity's first possession to start the 3^rd quarter, little changed . . . two penalties on the drive led to a quick punt, putting the ball back in the hands of the host team very early in the 2^nd half.   The NE defense looked pretty solid on the first two plays, where DB/RB Stacey DeLuca and LB/FB Kate Miechkowski (1 solo, 4 assist) stuffed the run for short gain on first down, followed by Barnes and O'Loughlin doing the same on 2^nd down.  Things unraveled quickly as shoddy tackling allowed Manchester to scamper almost 50 yards for their third touchdown of the afternoon.

Samuelson (65 KO return yards and 78 rushing yards) ripped off a 22 yard return on the Freedom kickoff to give the Intensity offense the ball near midfield.  By this point, up 3 touchdowns, the Manchester defense was pinning their ears back and going after everything, resulting in another 3 and out for NE. 

The Freedom picked up another first down on their first play, but were stuffed for a very short gain on their second by Gauthier (who would later leave the field in an ambulance?a precautionary measure for a potential neck injury that was later determined to, fortunately, be just a sprain).  Once again, poor tackling led to another long (47 yards this time) TD run for the home team and what would be a 28-0 lead with about seven and a half minutes left in the 3^rd.

Still with plenty of fight in them, the New England offense took the field again, determined to score.  A 12 yard run by Samuelson and an 11 yard run by Vincent brought the Intensity inside the NH 30 again.  Then, on a 2^nd and 6 play, Donovan hit Gauthier down the left side for a 23 yard TD to put NE on the board with just of four minutes left in the 3^rd.  A designed covert 2 point attempt, faked the kick and had Donovan roll to her right and hit Samuelson in the right corner of the end zone for 2 points to bring the visitors to within less than 3 scores, 28-8.

Whatever vitality the touchdown breathed into New England, it was quickly lost on the kickoff as poor coverage and tackling (along with some seemingly missed block in the back by the hometown officials) led to a 63 yard return for a touchdown for Manchester, effectively breaking the will of Intensity and sealing the game with just under 4 minutes remaining in the 3^rd.

Decent field position after the kickoff return (the NE 45) again yielded nothing for the Intensity.  An 11-yard first down pass to Vincent from Donovan was followed by two incomplete passes, a short run, and a sack for a loss of 6 yards on 4^th and 7, turning the ball over on downs again.

Starting just over their side of midfield and helped along by two Intensity penalties, Manchester ran in another TD?though other questionably "missed" calls might have contributed to this as DeLuca appeared to be held as she pursued the play to the outside--with 13:24 left in the 4^th quarter.  Manchester up already by 32, decided to go for a two point conversion run and was successful.

Donovan churned out a 20 yard return to give the limping Intensity the ball on their 45 in the hopes of putting up another score to salvage some pride.  No such luck as a backfield fumble on 1^st and 10 recovered by the Freedom on the NE 40 put a quick end to that offensive series.   Another big first down run (22 yards) followed by three more runs, the last of which terminating in the end zone, put the home team up 48-8.  This time Freedom only went for the standard XPA (and made it, extending their lead to 41 points).  

In the closing minutes, tough defensive play by DB/QB Bridget Cambria (1 solo tackle and 4 tackle assists), LB/OL Stacey Martin (2 assists), and RB/LB Steph Samuelson (1 solo, 2 assists), along with Dubey and Kraynak kept the Freedom from paydirt again.  The game would end uneventfully with no further change of score. 

The Intensity will get another chance to take on Manchester later on this season at home.  For now, all attention is focused on the rematch with the Montreal Blitz on 5/31 in Montreal (The Blitz beat New England 28-0 earlier this season in a contest that was much closer than the final score would indicate).