Holding a comfortable, 20-point lead with eleven minutes remaining, the resilient Vixen posted back-to-back touchdowns deep and narrowed the differential to single digits.
For the SLAM, the defending champs of the league’s Pro Division, the surge was frustrating.
At Saturday’s WFA Pro American divisional road re-match at Kuhlman Field, St. Louis refused to let that happen again.
The 23-point duke all but secured St. Louis top seed placement in the divisional playoffs that will begin later this month.
Running back Jada Humphrey scored three touchdowns, two via the ground in the first half and one caught from quarterback Jaime Gaal in the fourth quarter.
Gaal had four touchdown throws overall that pushed the gunslinger’s total to 21 in five games.
St. Louis utilized an effective mix of long-sustainable offensive drives and quick bursts, resulting in the visitors’ overwhelming advantage in possession time.
An equally-impressive second half shutdown by the SLAM defensive unit added to the overall success.
Consider it a much better finish than a few weekends ago.
On their opening possession, St. Louis churned an 11-play, 60-yard scoring drive that was capped by Gaal’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Kerri McMahanat the 7:14 mark. McMahan added the PAT afterwards that gave the visitors a 7-0 edge.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Minnesota (2-2) broke their goose egg three minutes later with Amanda Dvorak’s 20-yard touchdown catch from Erin Kelley that made the score 7-6. Place kicker Michaela Duriskova’sattempted PAT was blocked and the SLAM’s lead remained at a solo point.
St. Louis extended the score to 13-6 in the early stages of the second quarter. The five-play, 50-yard sprint was capped by Humphrey’s eight-yard plunge with 12:28 left in the half. McMahan’s successful PAT kick pushed the score to 14-6.
Undaunted, the Vixen shored the score on their next possession as veteran Erica Rhodes, returning to full-time status in the backfield this campaign, romped 60 yards for her fifth touchdown in the last two games. Duriskova’s successful PAT afterwards sliced the SLAM’s lead to 14-13 with 11:42 left in the second.
St. Louis refused to be swayed and promptly scored as the frame progressed. Rookie receiver Aaryana Cook notched her third touchdown of the season, a 24-yard catch from Gaal at the 8:56 mark. McMahan added another PAT kick as the SLAM’s lead extended to 21-13.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Minnesota’s next possession was not as productive as previously executed and the Vixen were forced to punt, resulting in the SLAM claiming excellent field position at midfield.
They made the most of the opportunity with a six-play, 53-yard scoring drive, punctuated by Humphrey’s second trip to the end zone with a two-yard plunge. McMahan’s perfect PAT kick followed as St. Louis extended the score to 28-13with 3:30 remaining.
Seeing how a late rebuttal by the Vixen was imperative – as St. Louis would field opening possession in the second half – the host attempted a final minute push in the red zone on fourth down but failed and the differential remained at 15 points at intermission.
Even with that advantage, St. Louis’ offense initially spurted in the opening stages of the third quarter and were forced to punt.
Momentum then shifted back to the Vixen as they concluded a successful, clock-chewing drive that was finished with Jackie Radford’s 16-yard touchdown catch from Kelley with 6:30 remaining, whittling the SLAM’s lead to 28-19. However, an attempted two-point conversion fell completely apart.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Perhaps this provided a wake-up call for St. Louis, as they produced their most impressive drive of the contest that both effectively kept them on the field for the remainder of the third quarter and added points to their side of the scoreboard early in the fourth.
Paced by the solid front line work of Pamela Green, Caitlin Erickson, Antonnia Washington, Marion Ball and Tamikka Brents, the SLAM executed a 11-play, 60-yard scoring drive that was finished by Keyonna Smith’s five-yard catch – her sixth of the season – with 14:04 left in the game. McMahan’s extra kick was good and St. Louis pushed their lead to 35-19.
The Vixen offense gave valiant efforts to post points down the stretch but the St. Louis defense – consisting of Smith, Ciara Morgan, Jasmine Yandell, Jennifer Perkins, Brooklyn Devitt, Mary Altepeter, Taylor Hay, Tay Johnson, Raven Williams, Kinnaudy Daniles, Jennifer Tussey and others – kept Minnesota scoreless for the remainder of the game.
This was highlighted by Morgan’s interception off Kelley with 12:55 left. The defensive unit eventually trapped the Vixen and never surrendered a point in the game’s final twenty-three minutes.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Humphrey claimed her third touchdown of the contest with a 13-yard catch from Gaal with 9:39 remaining. Humphrey finished the game with 180 all-purpose yards.
The SLAM outscored Minnesota 14-0 in the fourth quarter to claim the 42-19 victory and retain top status in the WFA Pro American Division.
Gaal finished the night completing 17 passes for 212 yards with no interceptions.
St. Louis finishes their regular season next Saturday at Indiana Valor (2-3) in Indianapolis.
The future, however, certainly looks bright for the SLAM as they crave their sixth national title later this summer.
For more information on the SLAM, go to their official website.
SLAM INDIVIDUAL STATS (Unofficial)
PASSING: Gaal, 17-23, 212 Yds., 3 TDs, 0 INTs.
RUSHING: Humphrey 27-167, 2 TDs. Cooksey 5-19.
RECEIVING: McMahan 9-111, 1 TD. Bloch 3-33. Cook 2-28, 1 TD. Richardson 1-17. Humphrey 1-12, 1 TD. Smith 1-5, 1 TD.
KICKING: McMahan 6-6 PATs.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Litehouse Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews. Finally, he prefers Diet Ski over coffee.
Share