Pasquerilla West looks to continue its dominance against an up-and-coming Lewis squad tonight.
The Purple Weasels are fresh off a 33-16 win over Breen-Phillips Sunday. Freshman quarterback Grace Orians rushed for four touchdowns and passed for one more in her first contest, replacing junior Cara Davies, who is abroad.
"She knows she has big shoes to fill," Pasquerilla West senior captain Tina Martinek said. "She's very willing to learn, and she listens to her teammates very well. She will just get better."
Lewis must also face a stout Weasel defense. It shut out Breen-Phillips in the first half Sunday and didn't allow a point until it was leading 33-0.
"Our defense is pretty solid," Martinek said. "There's not really one person you can pull our on defense. I can pick our all of the girls on the team and say what they did well."
The Chicks, on the other hand, are looking to rebound after a poor showing last year. Senior captain Alexandra Persley was optimistic about the upcoming season.
"Things didn't go to well for us last year, but we have some key players back from abroad and an impressive freshman class," she said. "We've brought in some great new coaches and we've been practicing hard for three weeks now."
Regardless of past performances, this matchup should be a crowd pleaser. Persley expects a dogfight.
"We're a tough, physical team. Just from practices, I already have a black eye," she said. "I think we're ready for whatever they throw at us."
The two squads will face off tonight at 7 on Riehle Field.
Pangborn vs. Badin
Winless Badin and Pangborn will try to avoid an 0-2 start to their seasons against each other tonight.
After giving up 20 points to Lyons last week, the Bullfrogs need to improve on the defensive side of the ball, junior captain Katy Rose Hackney said.
"We are definitely going to work on being more aggressive on defense," Hackney said.
Badin faces a strong but inexperienced Pangborn offense, led by sophomore captain Meghan Bescher and freshman quarterback Gabby Tate. Despite playing together for the first time, Bescher found Tate open several times last week against Welsh Family.
But while the Phoxes (0-1) managed to put up two touchdowns against the Whirlwinds, they lost 27-12. The young Phoxes hope to improve after another week of practice.
Badin will be more unpredictable, Hackney said. Despite an early touchdown pass, the offense fell victim to a strong Lyons defense last week in a 20-6 loss.
"[The Lions] were able to adjust to what we were running pretty quickly," Hackney said. "We are looking to mix up our offense a little bit more this week."
Hackney also said the Bullfrogs go-to-receivers will change from play to play.
"It's going to be tough to say," she said. "We have a lot of different offenses, so it will depend on the target."
Hackney called Pangborn a "good team" and expects the game to be competitive;
Pangborn takes on Badin tonight at 8 on Riehle Field.
Breen-Phillips vs. Welsh Family
Welsh Family (1-0) looks to ride the positive momentum from its first game, a 27-12 victory over Pangborn, into tonight's game with Breen-Phillips.
"Aside from beating BP, we want to improve upon everything we did in our last game, and make it known that Welsh Fam is going to be a tough team to play against this year," Whirlwinds senior captain Kelly Bushelle said.
Part of that tough team is Jenni Gargula, the Whirlwinds junior quarterback, who threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers during Welsh Family's victory over Pangborn. Welsh Family is looking to continue the offensive production and capitalize on its quarterback's experience.
"[Gargula] will have an impact because she runs the offense well," Bushelle said.
Breen-Phillips, on the other hand, is trying to right the ship after a disappointing loss to Pasquerilla West in its previous game. The Babes (0-1) faced a 19-0 halftime deficit and couldn't recover en route to a 33-18 loss.
Breen-Phillips hopes to improve its defense. Although the offensive production came too late for the Babes, their defense will have to contain a Welsh Family offense that put up 27 points against a tough Pangborn team earlier in the week.
The Whirlwinds and Babes meet tonight at 9 at Riehle Field.
