Marblehead flag football girls have all the answers

MARBLEHEAD ? Swampscott had no answer for Marblehead’s duo of Hayley Braun and Olivia Raisner, who combined for five rushing touchdowns in the Magicians’ 41-20 rout of the Big Blue, in the annual Senior Girls Flag Football (aka Powder Puff) game, Friday night, at Piper Field.http://itemlive.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1120755&CategoryID=40800The game was the first meeting at night between the two schools, and it drew a huge crowd. Though Swampscott had recently dominated the rivalry, winning 11 of the last 12 in the series, the nighttime was the right time for the Magicians.”It was like our own version of Friday night lights,” Raisner said. “I’ve been thinking about this game since the second grade, and (playing at night) just took the game to a much higher level.”Raisner, a 3-sport athlete at Marblehead High, scored three times and gained 103 yards on 11 carries, while the speedy Braun, also a 3-sport athlete, led all rushers with 164 yards on 16 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Niki Clark added the Magicians’ final score.”We worked on run after run after run (during practice),” said Raisner. “To come out strong like that was great.”Swampscott trailed, 28-0, before finally scoring on a 36-yard touchdown bomb from Heather Tevrow to Lisa Gambale on the final play from scrimmage in the first half. Tevrow added a 1-yard rushing touchdown and Chelsey Esdra returned a kickoff 74 yards for the Big Blue’s other two scores, both of which came in the fourth quarter.Braun was clearly the fastest player on the field for either team, and she handled the ball five times on the Magicians’ first drive of the game, a 61-yard march that ended with Braun scoring on a toss sweep from 23 yards.Swampscott gambled on its ensuing drive, going for a first down on fourth-and-3 from its own 36, but the play was stopped for no gain.After big runs by Raisner and Braun, Raisner snuck in from the 1-yard line, and then hit Carly McIver with a quick pass for a 2-point conversion that gave the Magicians a 14-0 lead with exactly two minutes left in the first quarter.Rainser found Courtney Maag for a 16-yard gain and Clark ran 12 yards in another long drive that culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by Braun on the Magicians’ third drive of the game. Their next possession also resulted in points, with Raisner and Braun mostly alternating carries until Raisner plowed in from the 1-yard line.The Big Blue got the ball back with just 41.1 seconds left in the first half, but Tevrow connected with Gambale for 34 yards and one play later hooked up with her again to cut Swampscott’s deficit to 28-6.Emmy York’s interception late in the third quarter set up another scoring drive for the Magicians. After a 33-yard bootleg by Raisner, Braun took a direct snap out of a wildcat formation for 15 yards, and then Raisner covered the last 15 yards to the end zone on a keeper.Swampscott answered midway through the fourth quarter with an impressive 64-yard, 11-play march that featured a couple of good scrambles by Tevrow and a triple reverse. Carly Hayes picked up 10 yards to set up a sneak by Tevrow for a touchdown.Rebecca Ness and Clark handled all the touches on a 74-yard scoring drive that put the game away for Marblehead, with Clark running into the end zone with 2:54 left to make the score 41-14.Esdra salvaged some pride for Swampscott with a thrilling return on the ensuing kick. She fielded the ball along the right hash marks, broke to her left and found some daylight at about the Marblehead 40, but a couple of first downs by Braun and Raisner ran out what was left of the clock.”We worked really hard during practice,” said Braun, who plays soccer, lacrosse and ski races. “We knew could run the ball outside with the pitchouts, and we stuck with that strategy.”