seat. I got up there just in time to see the opening kickoff.
The Divas won the toss but elected to let the Fillies have the ball first. As they had done in the first game, the Fillies started pushing their way down the field. They started at their own 28-yard line, and thirteen plays later were on the Divas’ 11. Only this time the girls on defense came on a hell of a lot stronger. On third and 3, the Fillies tried to run it up the middle; one of the girls broke through low and fell in front of the running back, who tripped over her for a 2-yard loss. They were close enough for a field goal, but the kicker missed it. The Divas had stopped the Fillies without a score. Three minutes left in the first quarter, and the score was still 0 to 0.
Andy’s game plan became apparent on the Divas’ first possession. Everything Jesse threw would be from what they like to call a “quarterback waggle”—rolling slightly to her left or right as she dropped back to pass. Either she’d dump the ball off short or she’d fire it to one of the outside receivers. Andy put Michelle Cloud in motion on almost every play, too. The women’s league doesn’t use a lot of motion before a play, because that takes so much practice to get right, and the league just doesn’t have the facilities or the money to devote that much time to practices. But Michelle was perfect for it. She was smart and never made a mistake. She would move from the left side of the field to the slot position and then, just as the ball was snapped, she would disappear in the confusion for a second before coming open 5 or 10 yards downfield, where Jesse would hit her. The play looked like this:
Michelle began the play on the left. As Jesse called the signals, Michelle would go in motion to the slot position on the right. She timed her move to the slot position perfectly. Each time they ran this play, she was in that position the instant before the ball was hiked to Jesse. Jesse would fake a handoff to the running back (who would then run through the line and become a receiver), only to fall back and throw it to Michelle on the outside. Also, they worked out a kind of passing tree for each receiver; I could see that Jesse was throwing to a place on the field. Many times she dropped back, looked to her left, then to her right, then she’d throw the ball 15 yards to what looked like an open space until Michelle or Brenda Smalls would suddenly emerge out of the pack into that area, take the ball from the air, and keep going. Jesse’s release was so quick, and the plays developed so quickly, that the Fillies’ pass rush was useless. Jesse threw it a lot harder than she had all year too, though still not as hard as she could actually throw it. Michelle didn’t drop one ball. Neither did Brenda.
The Divas didn’t run the ball much, but they had a dainty little halfback named Cissy Davis who could run and catch. On the last play of their first possession—after they’d driven a little more than 50 yards downfield with quick, short passes to the wide receivers—Jesse threw one of those dump-off passes to Cissy in the flat just to the outside of the pass rush, and she took off like some frightened Pekingese and ran 25 yards for a touchdown.
A flat pass looks like this:
When Cissy got to the “flat,” which is just to the right of Jesse in the backfield, a few yards behind the line of scrimmage, Jesse flipped her the ball. The right guard, the tackle, Michelle Cloud, and Brenda Smalls were all in front of her to block, and nobody could catch her.
On their next possession, the Fillies, slow and plodding as always, couldn’t even get a first down. The Divas defense, in a kind of frenzy, stayed in their positions, held on to their blockers, and went down with them if they had to. It might have been luck the second time the Divas stopped them, when the Fillies running back fell down trying to cut through a gaping hole in the line, but they went three and out and had to
The Divas won the toss but elected to let the Fillies have the ball first. As they had done in the first game, the Fillies started pushing their way down the field. They started at their own 28-yard line, and thirteen plays later were on the Divas’ 11. Only this time the girls on defense came on a hell of a lot stronger. On third and 3, the Fillies tried to run it up the middle; one of the girls broke through low and fell in front of the running back, who tripped over her for a 2-yard loss. They were close enough for a field goal, but the kicker missed it. The Divas had stopped the Fillies without a score. Three minutes left in the first quarter, and the score was still 0 to 0.
Andy’s game plan became apparent on the Divas’ first possession. Everything Jesse threw would be from what they like to call a “quarterback waggle”—rolling slightly to her left or right as she dropped back to pass. Either she’d dump the ball off short or she’d fire it to one of the outside receivers. Andy put Michelle Cloud in motion on almost every play, too. The women’s league doesn’t use a lot of motion before a play, because that takes so much practice to get right, and the league just doesn’t have the facilities or the money to devote that much time to practices. But Michelle was perfect for it. She was smart and never made a mistake. She would move from the left side of the field to the slot position and then, just as the ball was snapped, she would disappear in the confusion for a second before coming open 5 or 10 yards downfield, where Jesse would hit her. The play looked like this:
Michelle began the play on the left. As Jesse called the signals, Michelle would go in motion to the slot position on the right. She timed her move to the slot position perfectly. Each time they ran this play, she was in that position the instant before the ball was hiked to Jesse. Jesse would fake a handoff to the running back (who would then run through the line and become a receiver), only to fall back and throw it to Michelle on the outside. Also, they worked out a kind of passing tree for each receiver; I could see that Jesse was throwing to a place on the field. Many times she dropped back, looked to her left, then to her right, then she’d throw the ball 15 yards to what looked like an open space until Michelle or Brenda Smalls would suddenly emerge out of the pack into that area, take the ball from the air, and keep going. Jesse’s release was so quick, and the plays developed so quickly, that the Fillies’ pass rush was useless. Jesse threw it a lot harder than she had all year too, though still not as hard as she could actually throw it. Michelle didn’t drop one ball. Neither did Brenda.
The Divas didn’t run the ball much, but they had a dainty little halfback named Cissy Davis who could run and catch. On the last play of their first possession—after they’d driven a little more than 50 yards downfield with quick, short passes to the wide receivers—Jesse threw one of those dump-off passes to Cissy in the flat just to the outside of the pass rush, and she took off like some frightened Pekingese and ran 25 yards for a touchdown.
A flat pass looks like this:
When Cissy got to the “flat,” which is just to the right of Jesse in the backfield, a few yards behind the line of scrimmage, Jesse flipped her the ball. The right guard, the tackle, Michelle Cloud, and Brenda Smalls were all in front of her to block, and nobody could catch her.
On their next possession, the Fillies, slow and plodding as always, couldn’t even get a first down. The Divas defense, in a kind of frenzy, stayed in their positions, held on to their blockers, and went down with them if they had to. It might have been luck the second time the Divas stopped them, when the Fillies running back fell down trying to cut through a gaping hole in the line, but they went three and out and had to
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