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MIDDLETOWN — Despite a tumultuous nail-biting final five minutes, Vinal Technical High School took down Wilcox Technical High School in their powder puff football matchup on Wednesday.
“We got it done,” said William Balch, Vinal Tech’s powder puff head coach. “It came down to the last 45 seconds, but we got it done.”
The final score of the game was 14-12.
Wilcox Tech arrived early, suited up and ready. The Wilcox Tech cheerleaders chanted “I believe that we will win!” over and over on the sideline of Pat Kidney Field in Middletown to amp the girls up for the start of the game.
The coin toss came out in favor of Vinal Tech, which had first possession to start the game. While their first play was a fumble, the drive ended with the first touchdown of the game by Bernisia Wiggins, their running back.
“At first I thought they grabbed my flag, but they didn’t and I kept running,” said Wiggins, a junior at Vinal Tech. “I was really excited when I reached the end zone.”
Vinal Tech’s offense kept the pressure up throughout the first half, scoring 14 points and preventing Wilcox Tech from scoring once. Vinal Tech’s second touchdown was by Wiggins as well.
“I’m so proud of myself from freshman year to now,” Wiggins said. “I wasn’t anticipating that I was going to score today, but I said I’m going to just go for it and do my best.”
The cheerleaders took center field to pick up the morale with their halftime performances.
Vinal Tech started with a cheer and cartwheels and went into a mix including the Wobble and Macarena. Wilcox Tech’s cheerleaders performed to a mix of Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2.
In the second half, Wilcox Tech had possession on the 30 yard line. The possession started with a penalty for a false start and a pass incomplete. It did gain 15 yards for unnecessary tackle by the Vinal Tech defense and ultimately ended up with a touchdown on the third down by Angela Zandry, their running back.
“Making that touchdown I can’t really describe it, it just felt really great. And to have the support of my team felt really amazing,” said Angela Zandry, Wilcox Tech’s senior running back. “You go into the game and you want to score, but you don’t know if it’s going to actually happen, so when it does it’s just a rush of emotions.”
Wilcox Tech had the final possession of the night, but couldn’t make the 2-point conversion.
“I think it went really well regardless of the outcome,” said Karina Torres, Wilcox Tech’s powder puff head coach. “Angela and Nilanie really picked it up, and Luz and Maria were amazing defensively. These girls played hard and gave it their all and took their roles to another level and it showed on the field today and I was very proud of them.”
“We succeeded due to hardwork and determination,” Balch said. “These girls really wanted it.”
Due to the late start, both teams didn’t have much time to train, but wanted the same outcome. Vinyl trained for three weeks, while Wilcox just for a week and a half to two.
“Regardless we were able to explain certain things that we’ve been teaching them throughout the practices like running certain routes and plays and they knew what we were talking about and we were able to see them facilitate that,” Torres said.
“They did a great job. I’m proud of them either way, win, lose or draw,” said Dan Burns, Wilcox Tech’s assistant powder puff coach. “They played clean. I mean it does get a little chippy in there but they played really well. They did what we did in practice and we just fell short a little bit.”
chooks@record-journal.com203-317-2279
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