Somers outpaced by John Jay in flag football opener

SOMERS, N.Y. - On Thursday, March 27, Somers opened the flag football season by falling behind early and unfortunately, they never caught up in a 40-20 home loss. 

Still, the Tuskers never gave up and certainly made it a game.

Three times the girls got within one score and refused to let John Jay walk away with an easy win.

The game didn’t start that way, though. On the legs and passing of Jaime Bartley-Cohen, the visitors got down the field twice for touchdowns, while the Tuskers quickly went out on their first two possessions.

A third quick offensive exit didn’t help Somers either, so Julia Schmidberger stepped in to stop the pack of Wolves. Up went a Bartley-Cohen pass into the crowd, and the soccer goalie tipped the ball to herself for the pick. Not done, the Tusker got on her horse and gave her team the ball at the seven.

Initially, the short field wasn’t working out so well, and a fourth and 5 had Somers looking at a very long day. Then Schmidberger put her hands up again. Down and out to the John Jay side, the receiver hauled in Natalia Antonecchia’s TD pass.

14-7 after the one-point conversion, John Jay was not impressed, and two QB sneaks erased the good work by Somers. First Bartley-Cohen kept the ball for 15, and switching places,  Koronowski ran a keeper for a 40-yard touchdown.

A two-score game again, the lead wasn’t big for long. This especially when the Tuskers added a little trickery. On second down, Antonecchia innocently tossed a five-yard pass to Schmidberger, and she flipped to Cara Persico, who went all the way down the John Jay sideline.

65 yards in total, Somers needed a stop. Bending not breaking, the 20-14 score held up into halftime when a long snap at the five turned the ball over on downs.

Even so, the five-minute intermission did not have John Jay miss a beat. Two QB runs by Bartley-Cohen got the Wolves to midfield and an option pass to Sadie Walworth opened a two-score lead again.

Even so, Somers was up to the challenge. A sustained drive, Antonecchia began by hitting Schmidberger twice and Persico once. But the Tuskers still faced a fourth and ten from the 30. No surprise, Antonecchia hooked up Schmidberger again, and Somers kept moving.

Chloe Harris running a reverse and a Rebecca Lippolis reception set up a third and goal at the five. An incomplete to Schmidberger was no help, but Antonecchia kept her team in the game by scoring on a quarterback draw.

13 minutes to go, Wolves kept the ball on the ground, and there was no stopping the John Jay gobble. Five rushes by Koronowski got the Wolves down the field and Bartley-Cohen ran in the last ten to put the game out of reach.