LEGACY DOMINATES UNBEATENS

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By Patrick Lujan

Legacy’s Morgan Reyes gets stopped in her tracks by Sindalu’s Kristianna Santos. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

“Pick your heads up, it’s only the first quarter.”

Those were the words of Team Legacy quarterback Morgan Reyes to her defensive line teammates after the defending champions fell behind 12-0 late in the first quarter against the upstart Sindalu Sunday in the Guam Women’s Tackle Football League.

After those words were spoken on the sidelines, Legacy flipped the switch and totally dominated the rest of the way winning big in the battle of the two remaining unbeatens 47-12.

Rookie running back Olivia Flores rushed for two touchdowns and added two interceptions, Gia Sarusal added two late rushing scores and Reyes threw two touchdowns before leaving the game at halftime with an injury.

All that firepower by Team Legacy was too much for Sindalu, one of the new teams in the league this year that came in to the game tied atop the standings at 3-0 while not giving up any offensive points – until Sunday.

Legacy’s Lauren Fannon gets open down the middle to reel in the catch and score the first touchdown for her team. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Sindalu, with their cool teal uniforms, got on the board first on their second possession of the game when signal caller Christina Rapolla converted a well-executed hook and ladder play that resulted in Tiara Santos taking it to the house for a 51-yard hookup.

Later in the quarter, the Sindalu defense stepped up when Whisper Dela Cruz scooped up a fumble caused by a crushing sack on Reyes that led to a 12-0 lead – unchartered waters for Legacy.

“We never faced that…it’s the first time someone scored on our defense,” Legacy head coach Kin Salas said. “It’s something our team wasn’t used to. We had to deal with the adversity. They came out punching and firing, we fell but we came back up.”

From there, the Legacy defense – led by 115-lb. linebacker Kineisha Flores – totally dominated the game as the Sindalu offense were constantly being pushed backwords and setting up great field position for the Legacy offense time and time again.

“Conditioning is a must, the players on our side were not dying out at all,” Flores said about playing on a hot and dusty Eagle Field. “You could see that some of them, when we hit them, like they haven’t been hit before.”

Reyes orchestrated two nice second-quarter drives as she tossed a 19-yarder over the middle to fullback Lauren Fannon that put Legacy on the board and then delivered a perfect pass down the left sideline later in the quarter to Shawnnel Castro on another 19-yard hookup to tie the game. Flores’ PAT gave Legacy the 13-12 edge going into the break.

Sindalu’s Doreen Duenas rushes the ball and looks to the incoming defense of Legacy’s Cerena Camacho. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

The second half was all Legacy.

Reyes sat out of the second half with an injury to her throwing elbow, leaving Sarusal to take the snaps and all they did was run it on a fatigued Sindalu team behind Flores, Sarusal and Dana Benavente.

Flores capped off a six-play drive early in the third quarter with an eight-yard scamper around the left corner breaking tackles along the way to give Legacy some breathing room.

Two possessions later, Legacy went to third-string quarterback Kineisha Flores when Sarusal was shaken up on a quarterback keeper. Flores didn’t skip a bit as she tossed a two-yard flat pass score to Castro for her second TD reception of the game. It was the only pass attempt by Legacy in the second half.

Legacy tacked on three more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.

NOTE: Trailing 13-12 to open the third quarter, Sindalu’s Rapolla and Deana Garcia hooked up for a 70-yard scoring connection, but it was nullified due to an illegal block downfield that fans saw as a clean block. That would’ve put Sindalu ahead 18-13…long-time high school football coach Jimmy Naholowaa was seen on the Legacy sidelines teaching some of the players different angles and positioning.

GWTFL STANDINGS

Legacy 4-0

Sindalu 3-1

Stunnerz 3-1

Ruff Ryders 2-2

SteelBlazers 2-2

Lady Raiders 1-3

Lady Spartans 1-3

Iron Maidens 0-4

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Legacy QB Morgan Reyes throws a precision pass to teammate Gianna Sarusal in the first quarter. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Sindalu’s Deana Garcia takes the ball up the middle to earn some yards on the ground. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Legacy’s Rita Flores stops Sindalu’s Samantha Guzman for a loss of yards. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Sindalu’s Christina Rapolla passes the ball quick before the Legacy defense could make a stop. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Legacy’s Kineshia Flores wraps up and takes down Sindalu’s Deana Garcia. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

Legacy’s Shawnnel Castro attempts to catch the ball to try and complete the two-point conversion. (photo by Errol Alegre, Jr.)

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