Flag Football. M-W moves to semi-final in Sec. IX playoffs

On May 18, Monroe-Woodbury hosted the Wizards of Washingtonville Wizards for the First round of the Section 9 Flag Football playoffs. When the two teams met on May 3, the Crusaders came out on top with a 35-7 victory.

Early in the first half the Crusaders defense came up big when they stopped the Wizards on fourth-and-goal after an interception. The Crusaders struck back quickly and scored on a short pass and a long run for a touchdown from quarterback Ava Gilkes to Chloe Ahorrio to put the Crusaders up 6-0.

With 13:30 left in the half, Monroe-Woodbury scored again when Gilkes ran in from 18-yds out. After converting the extra point, they pulled to a 13-0 lead.

Just before the half the Crusaders struck again when Gilkes found Emily Turbides with a long pass into the corner of the end zone for another touchdown. After the extra-point conversion, the team took a 20-0 lead into the half.

But Washingtonville came out after the half and drove right through the Crusader defense, scoring on a short pass. Once the M-W defense stopped the extra point, the score was 20-6. The Wizards defense stopped the Crusaders again and again, making it a once-score game when the Wizards scored with 12:30 left in the game. Washingtonville snagged another interception, but the Crusaders were able to stop them cold.

The Wizards got the ball back one more time, but again the solid Crusader defense held, sealing their 20-12 first-round victory. The win moved M-W into the semi-final round to next face the Warwick Wildcats at home.