Somers Falls 24-6 in the Rain

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Yorktown Slideshow

On Monday May 5, the flag football team traveled to Yorktown and had more than Huskers to contend with. “This weather is really hard to play in,” said Katie DiChiaro in between the raindrops. Still, the Tuskers came out to play and drove all the way down to the Yorktown 11. A little short, they turned the ball over on downs, and Yorktown mostly took it from there.

The home team scored 18 straight in a 24-6 victory, which didn’t have the coach making excuses. “Both teams played in this weather,” she said.

Initially, overcast was the only obstacle, and the Tuskers made due with a three headed elephant. Cara Persico ran the first play out of the shadows, and next received on a short play to set up a fourth and two. Near midfield, Natalia Antonecchia used her hands and feet to keep the drive alive.

A roll to the right, the defense converged on the QB, and she dumped off to Julia Schmidberger for a first down. Not done, Antonecchia hit Schmidberger over the middle for eight yards to the 27, and the connection was no mistake. “When you trust your receiver is going to catch the ball, you want to keep going to them,” said DiChiaro.

Of course, Antonecchia showed she could go it alone. She ran a quarterback draw to the left, and Somers had a first down at the 16.

Unfortunately, Somers went no further, and Yorktown turned the bends into the breaks. Madeline Reilly started by bolting to the 36, and Sophia Marcello found Eva Monaco for a pass play that airmailed the Huskers to the Somers 13. Then Reilly spun her way to the five and followed by going up the middle for a 6-0 score.

No answer back from Somers, Yorktown put the Tusker defense to the test again, and it turned out to be a pop quiz. Kayleigh Hung ran up the middle, cut left and went all the way for a 12-0 game.

11:10 left in the half, Yorktown had the ball back four plays later, and Somers seemed to return the favor when Khloe Harris stuffed Marcello’s pass attempt. Instead, a roughing the passer was called, and DiChiaro was not necessarily amenable. "There were a lot of bad calls,” she asserted.

A score did not result, but Somers didn’t get the ball back until there was less than a minute remaining in the half. Not enough time, Yorktown made no apologies and went right back to work after intermission.

Mixing and matching at QB, Heilee Leonardo ran two sneaks to the Somers 39, where the yellow flags went up again. A personal foul added 15 and Marcello returned. She connected with Monaco for a third and one at the 21, and barking away, Reilly bumped outside for six more.

First down, Monaco waived her wand. She somehow escaped a ton of red jerseys on the sideline, and after reaching the five, Leonardo did the rest.

A commanding 18-0 lead with 20 minutes to go, Somers did answer following stops from both defenses. After Schmidberger made a reception over the middle, Somers saw the ball advance to the 38 on a personal foul on the tackle.

An actual tackle, Persico was not intimidated when she took the handoff on the next play. The back got outside, danced and spun through the defense and didn’t stop until reaching the 15.

Now Antonecchia’s turn, she went straight up the middle to the eight. But Somers still faced a fourth down from the 11 after a penalty and a no gain.

Refusing to quit, Antonecchia found her favorite on the right for a touchdown, which had DiChiaro remembering all the other moving parts. “Angela Roane, Amanda Dustin and Morgan Kauffman are getting the quarterback time to throw the ball,” said the coach.

18-6 with 8:36 remaining, Yorktown responded by putting the game away. Olivia Flaim scooted 50 yards down the sideline, but DiChiaro still saw an upside in defeat. “You need kids out there to make plays happen,” she concluded. “It’s great to watch when you have girls that are ready to put their bodies on the line.”