The So Cal Scorpions of the WPFL improve to 4-2 on the season.
It's been said that the only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. Rocks can't. Glass doesn't stand a chance against one.
Yet the stinger from a scorpion might be able to, as the Southern California football team of the same name completes a season sweep of the Dallas Diamonds Saturday at La Jolla High School.
A game loaded with beautifully orchestrated passes and rushes, hard hits, banged-up players, quarrels and onside kicks galore, in the end, went to the So Cal Scorpions, 21-19.
Running back Desiree Weimann (#2) was again the game's hero, rushing for 137 yards and scoring one of So Cal's three touchdowns.
"It's no secret who I am anymore," says Weimann, nicknamed 'The Workhorse.' "Every single team, every week...prepares to play me. If I don't have the ball, I have got to be making something happen anyway."
Weimann's contributions were largely with the ball though. Her touchdown came courtesy of a 25-yard run in the first half. She would later sustain an injury for the second straight home game, but not before becoming So Cal's offensive catalyst again.
"This is Dallas...I was scared the entire game," admits Weimann. "Making sure you play every single down perfectly, and you execute, that's the only way you can beat Dallas."
The Diamonds may not have attacked until the second half, but they were clearly in the game for its duration. Midway through the first quarter, a series of meticulously calculated plays put the Scorpions just inside Dallas territory at the 48 yard line. From there, quarterback Melissa Gallegos (#3) dropped back to pass, and found wide receiver Brittany Cotton for a long bomb that Cotton (#82) trotted into the endzone. Following the touchdown, the Scorpions turned a busted point-after attempt into a successful 2-point conversion, as a muffed snap became a memory. It was 8-0 So Cal.
The Scorpion defense kept the Diamonds out of the red zone for much of the game's early stages. Later in the first half, So Cal took over on downs as a Dallas attempt to convert on fourth down failed. Dandy runs by Weimann and a 12-yard pass from Gallegos to Isis Wagner (#88) moved the ball to the Diamond 25. The Workhorse went back to work and carried the ball the remaining yardage for the aforementioned TD. The ensuing extra point try was good, and So Cal was ahead 15-0 at halftime.
"Never did I ever think that we were going to win," says Weimann. "This is the last team you want to get complacent against. You can't be looking at the scoreboard."
In the second half, Dallas got back into the game. A drive that took them almost the length of the field was highlighted by a 28-yard Melissa Springer (#46) run. One play later, quarterback Monica Foster (#14) took the ball two yards in for a touchdown. The momentum Dallas had established though was slightly dissipated on the extra point attempt. The Scorpions' mighty line blocked the kick, keeping it a two-score game, 15-6.
So Cal came right back. A 27-yard sprint by Weimann got the Scorpions inside the Dallas 10. They tried several times to punch the ball into the end zone by running it up the middle, but were stopped each time, including on 4th and goal. Yet right as Dallas took over on their own 1, a fumble, recovered by So Cal's Michelle Starks (#72) gave the Scorpion offense brand new life at the Dallas 3. Two plays later, Gallegos ran the ball to the right, and got it in for the score. The two-point conversion however was no good. 21-6, Scorpions.
In the fourth quarter, the Diamonds drove down to the So Cal 8 yard line. Springer ran in an 8-yard score to make it 21-12, as Dallas committed the game's second blown two-point try. Their second of three onside kicks of the evening followed, and for the second time, the Diamonds recovered! Their new drive didn't take long to become prolific. It was capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Foster to Tiffany Meyer (#4). After the P.A.T., it was 21-19 So Cal.
A third Dallas onside kick came, but the Scorpions got it. The final three minutes and change ticked away, with a gritty stand by the So Cal defense in the final minute and a half, forcing a 4-and-out by the Diamonds. It was also in this stretch that Weimann rolled her ankle.
"It ain't broke!" she happily says. "I'll be good to go next week."
With their second straight win in the books, the Scorpions (4-2) travel to Wisconsin to take on the undefeated Wolves, next Saturday October 6th. The Diamonds head home to take on the Las Vegas Showgirlz.
The Scorpions, in effect, will try to give the Wolves their first stinging of the year.
