Quake win over NM Menace

KodakGallery photos of the Menace at Quake game, 4/26/08. (430 photos)

The game was fun, a romp by the Quake, with a final score of 64-0. Defense is looking strong, never letting the New Mexico running backs get on track. Second-year cornerback Alex Kirby was the big stud on D, with four interceptions, two of them run back for touchdowns. Rookie kicker Sarah Oliver had a big night too ... just missing a 45-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter when the ball hit the crossbar. Offense got reved up on the sideline to give her another shot at it. When the Quake got the ball back in the final minutes (courtesy of Kirby's fourth interception) Zaky deliberately went out of bounds at the 26 yard line to set up the kick. A 44-yard attempt, good snap, good hold, and Oliver just drilled it. Coach Josh is pretty sure it's a record for women's football. A lot of teams are stingy with their stats so I'm not entirely 100% convinced, but y'know I think he's right on this one :)

Quake are 3-0 now. I've seen their two romp games (45-14 against Tucson and 64-0 against New Mexico) but missed the close defensive battle against the Breakers (score 5-0) 'cause I was at the Prowlers vs Amazons game instead. Big test next weekend at the Las Vegas Showgirls. Vegas is 2-0 and coming off a bye week, and a good team. Quake and Showgirls are the two teams most likely to battle it out for the division title, so it's a big game.

Prowlers at Amazons

Caught the local NWFA opening day game this weekend when the Los Angeles Amazons hosted the Phoenix Prowlers. It was quite a shocker. The Prowlers pretty much owned the Western division of the NWFA last year, and since the Amazons are a good team I thought they'd come in and give them a challenge. Instead, the 'Zons dominated from the opening whistle. Final was 47-14 and the Prowler's two scores came in the fourth quarter ("garbage time" as Chick used to call it.) Uffda.

The Prowlers were understandable grumpy when I went to greet them after the game (me: "Abomb, are you going to say hi to me?" Abomb: "No, I'm sulking") but Angie was the most stoic about things, taking the well-that-sucked-let's-go-get-a-beer perspective of a loss that stings like hell. I expect those gals to come back strong, they're not a rookie team that folds up after you beat 'em once.

To my very great pleasure I got a chance to speak with Coach Turley after the game - he's not coaching this year but was on the Phoenix sidelines, as sort of a coach emeritus I guess. Always nice to see that guy. :)

But wow, the Amazons looked good. Really good. Scary good. Hangin with healthy Dallas good. Now that most of the top-level teams have left the NWFA I see no reason why Los Angeles isn't going to run away with this league. Look out East.

Quake opens 2008 season with a win

The California Quake are playing at Downey HS this season ... just a few blocks from the World's Oldest McDonald's. They hosted the Tucson Monsoon Saturday night, and avenged last year's opening day loss by handily beating the Arizona visitors by a score of 45-14.

Click here for KodakGallery photos. Not a lot of photos 'cause I was taking them in between stints of running a video camera.

I wrote in one of the online boards where I post,

... Both teams gave up big plays early on and they both scored on their first two possessions, with Tucson holding a 14-13 edge.

The difference after that? Quake defense adjusted, Monsoon didn't. California made some wholesale personnel swaps and stoned Tucson's running game for most of the rest of the night. The Monsoon spent a lot of the fourth quarter in the red zone but couldn't punch it in, and they haven't a reliable kicker yet. They need one. They don't even punt! =:O

On the other hand, the Monsoon couldn't seem to do anything to stop the Quake's outside run, and speedy #5 Monique Zaky, who made a lot of would-be tacklers whiff. To me it looked like a combination of yeah she's that good and Tucson will be working on fundamentals a bit more ... run through and wrap up ladies! :)

Later, I got an email from my friend Nancy who's a Quake linebacker. She told me that the brilliant "adjustment" was actually just some of the first-stringers getting on the field. For those unfamiliar with football, it is common for coaches to hold a starting player out of the lineup for a series or two for missing practice or some other minor disciplinary violation. Don't read more into this; I don't know what happened, who was involved, or anything other than it really wasn't a big deal. Now all that early scoring makes perfect sense.

The team looks good this year. I have big hopes for them, and even though it's way too early to say anything like this, I think they have a shot at the division title :)