The last two weeks of play in women’s flag football has been about preparing for the postseason.
Last Friday saw a slate of make-up games that produced surprising results while the Friday before served as the official end of the regular season.
Throughout the Dart Women’s League season of the Grand Cayman Flag Football Association, the top two teams have remained steady in the Domino’s Pizza Wolverines and Hammerheads Lady Sharks. Both squads faced determined opposition and the elements with wind, rain and lightening against them at the Camana Bay Field. Hammerheads would earn a narrow 8-0 victory over the Androgroup Killa-Panthers while top-seeded Wolverines beat the Pythons 20-0.
Hammerheads had a sluggish start. But quarterback Bobeth O’Garro completed 10 of 19 passes, with two interceptions thrown to steady the side. Scimone Campbell led the offence with three receptions, including a 35-yard touchdown. Dionne Anglin caught her sole ball of the game, stretching out to bring in a two-point conversion. Defensively Lilia Conolly shined for the Lady Sharks with three interceptions and two tackles. Serena Yates proved a dominant line defender, adding four tackles to her game while Hong Ngyuen chipped in with two tackles.
Androgroup are still trying to find their offensive groove, however, their defence keeps the team within points of their opponents. Quarterback Christina Pineda wasn’t able to find her receivers, with a season-low of seven out of 28 passes completed and three interceptions thrown.
Lisa Hill-Malice, usually a quarterback for Killa-Panthers, led the offense this week with three receptions. Pineda met Malice for some mid-field passes, which saw the Killa-Panthers move the ball a little down the field. Heather Roffey also had two receptions on offense, followed by Sophia Dilbert and Denise Delpesh each with one.
Roffey also kept her game up on defence with three tackles and two interceptions. Dilbert also had a solid game on defence with five tackles, followed by Natalee Dyke with three. Stephanie Watler chipped in with a tackle.
By the time the day’s second game between Domino’s Pizza Wolverines and the Pythons began, the rain was at a steady downpour. Halfway into the game, despite glimmers of lightening, it wasn’t until a little through the middle of the second half that the stormy conditions and lightening would prevail, ending the game early.
Antoinette Lewis, quarterback for the Wolverines completed eight out of 19 passes, with one interception thrown. Despite the rough weather, her best passes were three long, risky balls thrown and caught near the end zone.
Benecia Thompson had another great game for Wolverines. The receiver had four catches, including three long passes, two caught in the end zone and one ball ran in from roughly 10 yards away. Thompson scored all three of Wolverines’ touchdowns.
Shamar Ennis also added to the score with her two-point conversion. Dionne Whittaker and Eleanor Berry each had two receptions on offense as well. The Wolverines’ ability to control the field and hang onto the ball despite battling the elements, was impressive.
Not much action on defence for the Wolverines, with Whittaker and Ennis both having two tackles each, followed by Shinette Rhoden and Agueda Broderick with one tackle each. Thompson, forever utilizing her height, caught an interception to add to the team’s defence.
To an extent the Pythons nearly drowned in the rain, as their offence was next to nonexistent with the weather foiling the team’s running plays. Quarterback Carrie Barnett had a slippery time completing just one of nine passes, with one interception thrown.
Carla Martin had the sole reception for the Pythons on offence. The few running plays the Pythons attempted with Sheyla Torres were also stopped short by the Wolverines’ defence, much to the dismay of Pythons coaches Shawn Pitterson and Rupert Whittaker.
What they lacked in offence, the Pythons tried to make up for in defence. Torres led the way with four sacks to the Wolverines’ quarterback and one tackle. Carla Martin also contributed with two sacks. Violet Whittaker-Powell had four tackles and one interception and Barnett had two tackles. Barnett also came within inches of making two interceptions on Wolverines’ player Benecia Thompson, but her slight misjudgment allowed Thompson to make the key touchdown catches.
This past Saturday, the final week of the regular season saw the Pythons battle the Lone-Star Jager Monsters followed by the Lady Sharks and Wolverines in a tussle among top clubs. That game was postponed from a few weeks ago and speculation is high as to which of those teams will win the championship this season. A few weeks ago both the Sharks and Wolverines had a bigger roster, but due to school commitments and player injuries, both teams were not at their full player strength.
The playoffs begin this Saturday, 24 September at Camana Bay with the Wolverines being the top seed, Lady Sharks being number two, the Jager Monsters ranked third and Killa-Panthers sporting the fourth and final seed.
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