Lyons fall victim to Welsh's Rak-Grubb combination
By JEFF BALTRUZAK and JOE LICANDRO
Sports Writer
Welsh vs. Lyons
Lyons became the latest in a string of victims to the Welsh passing attack of quarterback Katie Rak and wide receiver Jenn Grubb.
In what has been a recurring theme all year, Rak and Grubb hooked up for two touchdown passes to lead Welsh to a 20-0 victory over Lyons Sunday at Stepan Field to improve its record to 3-0. Despite a valiant effort by Lyons' young secondary, Rak's accuracy and Grubb's speed proved once again to be too much for opposing defenses to handle.
On Welsh's second offensive possession, Rak connected with Grubb on a 20-yard post pattern down the middle of the field. On Welsh's next time down the field, Rak threw a 40-yard touchdown bomb to a streaking Grubb to make the score 12-0.
After stalling on offense for the next couple possessions, Rak threw her third touchdown pass to Vanessa Lichon to give Welsh an 18-0 lead. Welsh added the two-point to finish with 20 points.
While Welsh's offense was impressive, its "bend but don't break" defense was up to the task as well, not allowing Lyons any long passing plays.
"The defensive shutout was great," said Welsh coach Casey Bouton. "Both offensively and defensively, we are moving in the right direction. We need to work on catching the ball for next game because we dropped a lot of balls on offense and missed some opportunities for interceptions."
Lyons quarterback Sarah Jenkins avoided committing any turnovers, but she came up just short of leading her team to the end zone. Welsh's secondary was led by the stellar play of freshman safety Emily Oess, who made open-field tackles throughout the game.
After the game, Oess attributed Welsh's defensive success to team speed.
"We reacted to the ball quickly," Oess said, "And we didn't let them have any significant gains after they caught the ball."
Pangborn vs. Howard
The Ducks trounced the Pangborn Phoxes 34-0 as Howard quarterback Jill Vaselik turned in an outstanding performance.
Vaselik had a hand in all five Duck touchdowns, throwing for four and catching the fifth. She was deadly accurate, carving the Phoxes' defense while completing eight passes to athletic wide-out Elizabeth Klinek. She was quick to credit her teammates for the victory.
"It was a team effort," Klinek explained. "Each week we make more and more strides."
Howard led the game quickly after a four-play drive. Klinek caught a pass for a 40-yard gain, and then Vaselik found her again in the back of the end zone to make the score 7-0.
While the Duck offense was running in overdrive, the Pangborn unit sputtered. The Phoxes drove inside the Duck 20-yard line only once, and were forced to punt three times.
"Let's just say we have a lot of things to work on for the offense," said captain Erin Piroutek.
The Howard defense excelled. Emily Borg and company intercepted three passes by Pangborn quarterback Melissa Kalas, as the defensive line put up a tough pass rush.
Vaselik was pleased about Howard's overall team play.
"There's always some room for improvement," Vaselik said, "But this week it all came together."
The start of the second half proved to be decisive, as Howard caused two turnovers and scored a touchdown during a three play span. On the first play of the half, Kalas was intercepted, and the Ducks returned the ball to the eight-yard line.
On the next play Vaselik fired her third touchdown pass to receiver Vanessa Nero, making the score 20-0. The Duck defense then stunned the Phoxes with another interception, setting up one more Vaselik touchdown pass to up the score to 27-0.
Klinek was not surprised by her team's strong play.
"We're definitely one of the best teams in the league," she said.
Pasquerilla East vs. Lewis
In a game moved from the muddy McGlinn field to a slightly less-saturated Stepan field, Pasquerilla East defeated Lewis 12-6 on Sunday.
The Lewis defense was expected to star with its tough play, but in the end the PE defenders stole the show and the game.
Lewis struck first, with the help of its defense. The Chicks intercepted PE quarterback Lindsay Terifay and returned the ball to inside the Pyro 20-yard line. The Lewis offense, led by field general Chantal Dealcuaz
and wideout Katie Schlosser, punched the ball in on fourth down to set the score at 6-0.
PE answered back later in the first half. Terifay found wide receiver Stacey Leicht in the end zone from five yards out to tie the game at six, after a long drive against the vaunted Lewis defense.
"We moved methodically down the field for that score," said Leicht. "We had really good execution."
The Pyro defense, the less heralded of the two defenses on the field, proved to be the deciding factor.
Just prior to half time, Lewis had the ball in PE territory. Dealcuaz was picked off by Pyro defender Ellen Mills, and was off to the races, arriving in the end zone to give her team a 12-6 edge.
By halftime, the scoring was done, and the second half turned into a defensive stalemate full of missed opportunities for the Lewis offense. Twice the Chicks drove into the red zone and twice they were turned away with no points for their efforts.
"We couldn't quite execute," said Harcourt. "It's kind of disappointing."
Lewis had one final chance to tie the game in the final minutes, driving inside the Pyro five-yard line. PE made a stunning interception of Dealcuaz in its own end zone, and the Pyros ran out the clock, sealing the victory.
Chick captain Katharine Harcourt thought her squad played well, but just came up short.
"We felt like we played our game," she said. "In the end, they came up with the big play."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, September 27, 2000
