Photograph by: Michelle Berg, The Starphoenix
Both teams walked away from Sunday's Western Canadian Women's Football League rain-soaked
The Saskatoon Valkyries were grinning most broadly after handing the Manitoba Fearless a 48-6 setback in their semifinal matchup.
But the Fearless were pleased too. After being shut out by a combined 260-0 score in five previous games against the Valkyries over the last four years, the Fearless finally lit up the scoreboard with a late touchdown of their own.
"We got up in this game and lost a little bit of focus in the second half," said Valkyries head coach Jeff Yausie. "But certainly we accomplished our goal, which is to get ready for the next playoff game."
"(Manitoba) played hard and I was happy for them, actually, to see them punch it in and score."
Marisa Milani, subbing in at quarterback for the Fearless who trailed 48-0 late in the game, kept the ball on a third-down gamble. She barely beat a Valkyrie defender around the end. The six-yard touchdown for the Fearless came with just 36.3 seconds left.
"They played really hard and they played right to the end. It's a nice way to finish the year," said Craig Bachynski, the Fearless head coach who also noted the bus ride home would feel a lot shorter.
After the Valkyries went up 7-0 on their first drive on a five-yard Samantha Matheson rushing touchdown, the Fearless started rolling with a couple of first downs on their own first drive. Then quarterback Heather Sedgerewich just missed Janelle Tarr on a long pass behind the Valkyrie defence that would have been a touchdown.
The Valkyries went on to record three more firstquarter touchdowns including 53-and 39-yard rushes for Julie David and an 11-yard screen pass from Candace Bloomquist for Matheson's second major of the game. Saskatoon led 28-0 after the first quarter.
The early lead allowed Saskatoon the chance to play every player. Rookie defensive back Danielle Haughian, who had dislocated her knee cap in the fourth practice of the season almost three months ago, recorded two tackles in her first game. Saskatoon led 41-0 at halftime after a Rienna Rueve field goal, and another David touchdown on an eight-yard pass. Saskatoon had a net offence of 346 yards at halftime while holding Manitoba to zero.
Saskatoon got an electric play from David to start out the second half. Rushing the ball, she split two Manitoba defenders racing for her fourth touchdown of the day, a 62-yard major.
"The O-line made a huge gap for me," said David who finished with 194 yards rushing on six carries. "I couldn't see any (Fearless) players at all so that was amazing."
Trailing 48-0 late in the fourth the Fearless drove inside the Valkyries 10-yard line, but were stopped three times, including on the goalline on third down. However, a Valkyries fumble on their next possession at their own six-yard line set up the late Fearless score.
Saskatoon hosts the Regina Riot in the two team's fourth straight Prairie Conference final next Sunday at Griffiths Stadium. Regina defeated the Winnipeg Nomads Wolfpack 27-13 in Sunday's other semifinal.
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