WFA Division II and Division II National Championship Recap
Arkansas Wildcats Win WFA Division 3 Championship
The Division 3 championship game pitted two teams, both fighting for a championship in the memory of fallen teammates. Two teams full of heart and passion for the game of football. The temperature at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hit 88 degrees, with a heat index of 95, yet neither team quit, neither team slowed down, they fought for 60 minutes.
The Arkansas Wildcats field a very small team, for the championship game, that roster was just 13 players. The Wildcats were playing for teammate #95 Kelsey Goode, who passed away after a car accident.
The Orlando Anarchy were playing for former player #38 Jahqui Sevills, who also passed away due to a car accident and Assistant Coach Cory Connell, who was killed in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016.
Orlando came out hot, playing great on both sides of the ball. The Anarchy took the first turnover of the game, when the snap went up and over Wildcat Quarterback Charmaine Alfred’s hands. Orlando, then drove the short field and scored on a pass from Quarterback Chandice Hunter to Wide Receiver Cabriel Duren.
The Wildcats answered on their next possession with a touchdown run by Kiara Vinson, however the 2-point conversion try was no good and the Anarchy held the 7-6 lead. Orlando continued to mix up their run and pass with great effectiveness. A few minutes later, Hunter threw a jump ball to the left corner of the end zone, and once again, Duren pulled in the touchdown. Vinson again made it a game, breaking her second long touchdown of the game, a 44 yard run. Arkansas, who went for two on every touchdown, made the conversion to tie the score at 14-14 to finish the first quarter.
Both defenses were on their game in the second quarter, with both teams trading defensive stops. Arkansas was just about to get another stop when the returner muffed the punt and the Anarchy recovered, with good field position.
Back to back penalties on Arkansas gave the Anarchy a first and goal at the three yard line. Hunter took no chances and tucked the ball away herself to put Orlando back on top 20-14. However, the Wildcats used their multi-dimensional running attack of Kiara Vinson and Raquel Williams to wear down the Orlando Anarchy all game long. Vinson would once again break away for a long touchdown, this time for 65 yards. After scoring the touchdown, Vinson was seen laying on her side on the Wildcats bench, being doused with water, to stay cool. The Wildcats would take that 22-20 lead into the locker room for halftime.
At the end of halftime, we asked Orlando Head Coach Tony Chaves what the plan was to stop Vinson in the second half, and he told MyWSports “We’ve got to stop her, we’ve been talking about her all week and we’ve got to do a better job containing her.”
Vinson wouldn’t score again for the Wildcats, however, Raquel Williams was just getting started. Williams started the third quarter taking a screen pass 60 yards for a touchdown.
Once again it was the Anarchy duo of Hunter to Duren that kept it a tight ball game. Facing a 4th and goal from the 17, Hunter threw the ball to the back corner of the end zone where only Duren could catch it, and Duren did just that. The two point conversion was no good, and Orlando still trailed 28-26 to end the 3rd Quarter.
At the start of the 4th, Williams struck again, this time with a 44 yard touchdown run. Vinson tacked on the 2 point conversion making it 36-26 in favor of the Wildcats. On the next play from scrimmage for the Anarchy, Hunter threw the ball into space, but it was Dekeidra Brewer of the Wildcats that picked it off and returned the ball for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 42-26. Brewer said “I was in the right spot at the right time, I had to put my burners on because we were playing both ways and I was tired, but I knew my team needed me.”
Brewer is another remarkable story for the Wildcats. After breaking her ankle in December, she worked her way back to play in the first game of the season for the Wildcats, only to break her other ankle. The WFA Division 3 National Championship was her first game back for Arkansas. Not only did she have the pick six to put the dagger in the Anarchy’s hearts, but with under 4 minutes to play, she had 2 huge sacks, one knocking Hunter out of the game and one giving Orlando a 4th and 22 on their own 22, which Arkansas would shut down and take over on downs.
Coach Dukes III receiving the Division 3 Championship trophy from Pittsburgh Passion Co-Owner and Pittsburgh Steeler Hall of Famer Franco Harris.
After the game, we asked Wide Receiver Alona Alexander of the Wildcats what the training and conditioning process was for the Wildcats and she said “We practice every weekend, some of us come from different states to practice and we just go hard. We had a really hard practice last Saturday, I don’t know if it was because of nerves or just getting to come (to Pittsburgh).” Head Coach Earnest Dukes III also said, “I’m so proud of this team, we won some games with only 9 players on the field and they worked so hard all year and deserve this.”
Cabriel Duren carried the Anarchy on her back, but after the game, she noted that, “everyone on the team played with a lot of heart and always kept fighting for Cory and Jahqui and that helped us get to where we are.” She also said that this could be the start of something great for the Anarchy, “there’s a lot of people that want to play now that they’ve started hearing about us, and we’re going to get involved were going to come back with bigger fight.”
Both teams should be proud of the effort and the game they played in the championship game. Both teams fought until the clock ran out and both teams left it all out on the field at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Orlando reached the championship game after an 0-8 season in 2016 and Arkansas were named Division 3 National Champions with just 13 total players.
Slam Wins Second Straight Division 2 Title
There were signs that the tides were starting to shift in the Division 2 ranks. The W Bowl Weekend rematch was set for the Tampa Bay Inferno and the St. Louis Slam. Tampa Bay once again finished the regular season undefeated, stormed through the Southeast Regional and upset the top seeded Montreal Blitz in convincing fashion in the National Conference Championship. The Slam had their struggles in the American Conference Championship before finally putting away the Mile High Blaze. There were signs that, maybe, Tampa Bay was going to get some revenge in the 2017 National Championship for their 38-7 loss in 2016 to St. Louis.
St. Louis did not take Tampa Bay lightly though. Captain Taylor Hay told MyWSports, “We know they’ve gotten better this year and we still have to go out and prove we’re the better team on the field.” “This game will come down to whichever team makes the least mistakes.” Hay didn’t know at the time, just how right her prediction would be for the championship game.
The first quarter was a microcosm of Hay’s prediction. The Slam scored on their first possession, keeping it on the ground and running over Tampa Bay defenders. Hay scored the early touchdown for the Slam. On the next possession for the Inferno, a bad lateral pass bounced around the ground and was scooped up and taken to the three yard line by the Slam. St. Louis scored right away on a three yard run by Mary Altepeter.
The troubles continued for the Inferno in the first, when Keyonna Smith intercepted a pass. Once again, the Slam capitalized on the turnover with a pass from Jamie Gaal to Kaylee Neutzling to make the score 21-0 in favor of the Slam at the end of the first quarter.
The Inferno won the second quarter by holding the Slam offense scoreless. Ashleigh Norris and the defense came up big, intercepting a Gaal pass and returning it to the Slam 25 yard line with 1:03 in the half. The Inferno looked like they were about to stall out, when on 4th and 5, St. Louis committed a pass interference, giving Tampa another opportunity. Tampa took advantage of the opportunity, when Marcelina Chavez ran the ball in for the first score of the game for Tampa, closing the gap at the half 21-7.
The turnovers continued to burn the Inferno in the second half as well. After the Tampa defense stopped the Slam short of the goal line, forcing a missed field goal, they lost another fumble to the Slam. St. Louis made them pay again with a 36 yard touchdown pass to Danielle Price, extending the lead to 28-7 at the end of the third quarter. Prior to the pass Price was seen dancing on the field, after the game she told MyWSports “I need to stay loose and have fun so the nerves to get the best of me.” We asked her if the 21-0 lead helped calm some of those nerves and she said “Oh definitely, we played in front so much this year, but the Mile High game gave us the perspective that we have to keep fighting.”
The Slam were once again in the red zone to end the third period and just seconds into the fourth, Hay ran it in again and kicked her own extra point to move the score to 35-7. One more time in this game, the Slam forced a turnover from the Inferno and made the most of the situation. Gaal found Neutzling again in the end zone for the final score of the night for the Slam.
Head Coach Quincy Davis receiving the WFA Division 2 National Championship trophy from Commissioner Lisa King and League President Jeff King.
With eight minutes to go in the game, Tampa made a push to show that the game wasn’t over, driving the field and scoring on a pass complete to Sarah Rollins, then tacked on the two point conversion to cut the lead to 42-15. On the next Inferno possession, Quarterback Kim Shaw looked to cut into the lead even more, methodically passing her way down the field.
Unfortunately, Smith picked off another pass in the red zone to seal the game for the Slam.
For the Slam, after the game, there was certainly excitement, but the Slam also knew it was the end of an era for three members of their team. For three veterans, this was the last time they would don the Slam uniform. Hay was clear to point out, “we wanted to win, but we wanted it even more for our vets, Robyn Morrow, Myreta Davis, and Juanita Snow."
