Welsh breezes past PW in season opener
Steve Keppel
A young and rejuvenated Welsh team defeated Pasquerilla West 16-0 Tuesday.
After an unsuccessful season last year, Welsh looked to start off this season on the right track.
And that's exactly what it did. Midway through the first half, Welsh quarterback Stef Eden had a long run down to about the 20-yard line.
On the very next play, she fired a strike to her running back for Welsh's first score. The two-point conversion put them up 8-0.
Before the end of the half, the PW offense started driving down the field.
Welsh's strong defense put pressure on quarterback Andi Will forcing her to throw an interception with no time remaining, ending their hopes of a score.
Welsh's defense came out tough in the second half by once again picking off an errant Will pass.
The Welsh offense continued to move the ball with Eden's passing and running, but had two touchdowns called back because of penalties.
Eden started off her team's fourth quarter drive with a long pass over the middle. After a few incomplete passes, she again hit the running back out of the backfield for a 15-yard score. The two-point conversion put Welsh up 16-0.
On the next series, Will ended PW's hopes of a comeback by throwing her third interception of the night with little time left on the clock.
Walsh vs. Lyons
The second game of the night was a hard-fought defensive battle between Lyons and Walsh which Lyons won 6-0 in the final minute.
The first half was full of punts and penalties, as neither offense could seem to get things going. Walsh had a nice drive towards the end of the half which included some solid option runs by quarterback Melissa Beiting and a 30-yard pass to her wide receiver.
With under a minute remaining in the first half both teams traded turnovers, setting up Walsh with first and goal from the 10.
But four incomplete passes later, the half ended tied at 0-0.
The second half was much of the same as both teams had trouble moving the ball out of their own territory.
It wasn't until the 1:30 mark that Lyons finally mounted a drive.
As time was running down the Lyons quarterback fired two big first down passes across the middle.
With 30 seconds left and overtime looming, the Lyons quarterback launched a 35-yard bomb to captain Katie Yanez for the 6-0 win.
Pasquerilla East vs. Lewis
It is rare to find a player who can absolutely dominate every aspect of a sport, but Pasquerilla East's fifth-year senior quarterback/punt returner Elizabeth Plummer comes pretty close.
Plummer led PE to an 18-0 victory, starting off the final game of the night by returning a punt for 40 yards and then scrambling for a touchdown on PE's very first play from scrimmage. Before Lewis knew it, it was down 6-0.
The PE defense also looked very tough as the two-time returning champions sacked the Lewis quarterback twice on Lewis's second possession.
On their next series, the Pyros maneuvered the ball down-field with scrambles and short passes before Plummer struck again with a 20-yard TD pass.
Lewis got the ball back with time running down in the first half, but the PE defense came up big again with an interception with only 52 seconds remaining.
The Pyros' offense came out in a five-receiver set and Plummer threw her second TD of the night to the tight end with no time left on the clock. PE ended the half with a 18-0 lead.
The PE offense came out looking sharp, but the Lewis defense shut them down in the second half. Lewis started to move the ball but was stopped by penalties and sloppy play.
The game ended with PE winning 18-0, making its first step towards a possible third straight championship.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, September 23, 1999
