A scorching hot September day saw the girls’ flag football team (7-6) play St. Laurence (9-4) in their 13th game of the season. After being shut out by Main South, the Kits were looking to rebound this week. On Saturday, St. Laurence couldn’t outplay Evanston as they went on to win 28-0 in dominating fashion.
Evanston’s reliance on the short game was apparent in the opening stages of the half. Junior quarterback Maggie Conforti wasn’t going for any jaw-dropping throws but instead was all about moving the chains. A long put-together drive ended in a crisp throw to sophomore Kynia Hunt for a dazzling touchdown.
“You always want to have a short game. You always want to be able to move the sticks. You need 20 yards for the first down. Making each down more manageable is the goal,” remarked head coach Carlton Rosemond.
As the quarter played on, it wasn’t just the offense that impressed the crowd, but the defense brought the pressure to shut down an impressive St. Laurence offense. St. Laurence’s quarterback, sophomore Hannah Marusarz, is known for her excellent scrambling. The Kits were able to adjust to her strength and stopped any critical plays from occurring.
“We tried our best to just have someone set the edge and make [Maruasarz] have to cut back to where our help was coming from. She did a good job of getting outside a few times but I kept telling my corners don’t worry about knifing in when you can just stay out and set the edge,” commented Rosemond.
In the dying minutes of the quarter, Conforti led the Kits down the field by dumping multiple short passes to senior Hannah Honoré who easily spun around incoming defenders. When it looked like this drive might be hopeless sophomore Brielle Rosemond ran a quick slant juking out a defender and ended up wide open in the endzone for a touchdown.
As the second half got underway, the roaring crowd was star-struck as Conforti was sacked three times in a row to bring up a turnover on downs.
“I think we were trying our best to do more than what we should have done and ultimately it’s just getting back to what we have been doing,” stated Rosemond.
After this hiccup, the Kits started the second half by stepping up their defensive skills. Hunt led this charge as she had a pick in the endzone stopping St. Laurence’s best drive of the day. Hunt also iced the game when she put it all on the line to lay out for Marusarz’s flag. This brought a turnover over on downs in the red zone.
After the game, Rosemond stated, “Hopefully we will watch film and see how effective we can be with our offense and defense and being able to take each team in a sense of being able to understand how to defend them. It’s really all about concepts.”
The Kits have another game tonight at 7:30 against GBN where they hope to gain a winning streak.
