English Powder Puff defeats Classical

LYNN – The annual Lynn English-Lynn Classical Powder Puff football game was held on Sunday afternoon despite strong winds and bitter-cold conditions. Neither side seemed to mind the freezing cold weather, as the rivals put on an impressive showing at Manning Field.View Photo GalleryEnglish jumped out to a 20-6 halftime lead before the team’s alternated scoring drives over the final 20 minutes, culminating in a 33-22 victory for the Bulldogs.”I thought all the kids played well, considering the conditions,” said English coach Dick Newton. “Diondra (Woumn) and Rashia (Ellis) played great on offense while Catherine (Stinson) and Deidra (Newsom) dominated on defense.”Ellis led the way for English, rushing for 113 yards and two scores while throwing for a third. Bulldogs running back Woumn collected 102 yards and a touchdown on the ground and hauled in Ellis’ 32-yard scoring pass.The performance of the day came from Rams quarterback Francesca Galeazzi, who threw for 170 yards and a score in addition to her 116 rushing yards, which included two touchdowns.”Losing definitely didn’t take anything away from the experience,” said Galeazzi after the game. “It’s nice to get on the field and play a different sport. Some of my best friends were playing for English and both sides knew today was really about having fun.”Galeazzi completed seven of 15 passes, four of which found Rebecca Potter who collected 87 yards. Ellis, who relied more on her legs, finished two of three for 47 yards.English broke the ice with the game’s first score at the 6:25 mark of the opening quarter. The Bulldogs surprised the Classical defense with a double-reverse play to Woumn who pranced her way into the end zone from 30-yards out.English upped their lead to 13 late in the second period on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ellis to Franny Delarosa with 1:50 remaining. Classical would answer right back however, needing just 58 seconds to get on the board.Galeazzi connected on passes of 12 and 23 yards to Potter before the tandem hooked up on a 44-yard scoring pass that saw the Rams wide-out make a great catch before evading a defender and racing into the end zone.”Frankie and I have been playing soccer together since were about five and are familiar with each other no matter what sport we’re playing,” explained Potter of the duo’s chemistry. “We took some time to work out where each other would be during the game and it paid off.”English responded with an “anything you can do I can do better” drive, needing just two plays to take a 20-6 lead. Woumn took another reverse-play 31 yards to the Classical-32 before she hauled in a touchdown with just 20 ticks left in the half.Classical opened the second half with a bang, as Gina Delarosa got to Ellis in the end zone for a safety. The Bulldogs got the points right back (and then some) after forcing a Rams punt before a three-play scoring drive.Ellis ripped off a 43-yard run down the right side to set herself up for back-to-back runs of five-yards, the latter good for a touchdown that increased the lead to 26-8. Classical closed the third quarter with a two-yard rushing score from GaleazziEllis tacked on a seven-yard score with 3:59 that essentially put the game away, but Classical refused to take their foot off the gas. On the ensuing play from scrimmage, Galeazzi broke off a 70-yard rush to pay dirt, outracing the majority of the English defense.Despite the loss, Potter had nothing but positive things to say about the game, with one exception of course.”Well besides the fact that it was absolutely freezing, I thought it was a really great experience,” said Potter. “I’m sure some of the girls are upset about losing but nobody will regret playing. Everybody had fun today and made some new friendships and that’s really what this game is all about.”