The Manchester Freedom faced off against Western Massachusetts foe, the Holyoke Hurricanes in IWFL action Saturday afternoon at Manchester West stadium. The Freedom celebrated their home opener with a resounding 68 point victory.
Manchester scored on their first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Lauri Izzi connected with Jen Pirog for a 55 yard touchdown pass. Jamie Naylor added the extra point, and Manchester was ahead 7-0 before fans could get settled in their seats. That was to be the theme throughout the game as the Freedom scored touchdowns on every offensive possession, finishing with 573 total yards.
Izzi added touchdown passes of 5 yards to Jamie Naylor, and another strike to Pirog, that went for 30 yards. Izzi finished the day 5 of 9 passing for 118 yards and 3 touchdowns. Izzi also added a third quarter rushing touchdown.
The Manchester ground attack was led by veteran Katia Paskevitch, who ran for 154 yards on 10 carries, and 1 touchdown. On defense, Paskevitch intercepted a Hurricane pass and returned it 55 yards for her second touchdown of the day.
Laurie Petchar rushed for 19 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nisa Packert ran for 37 yards and 1 touchdown. Christine Halloran had 26 tough rushing yards and added a rushing touchdown.
The Freedom defense was unyielding, allowing Holyoke one first down in the 4th quarter. The defense was paced by Christine Halloran, who led the team with 8 tackles. Joy Burge played strong all day adding 5 solo tackles.
The game was called by the officials with 6:59 remaining in the 4th quarter, after what appeared to be a serious injury to a Holyoke player. The player was taken from the field by ambulance. Thankfully, news came later in the evening that the Holyoke player was doing well, and expected to make a full recovery.
The Freedom are back on home field next Saturday against the New England Intensity. The Freedom had 2 regular season losses last year, one of which was to the New England Intensity. Look for the Freedom to raise the "Intensity" for this game. Kick off is at 4 pm. Look forward to seeing you all there!
Written by Statistician, Rich Parkinson
