New York QB Halesworth throws for one score and runs for another in IWFL title game

ASHLAND — It had all the earmarkings of a good, old-fashioned football game.

Some good runs. Some sharp passes. Some fancy catches. Some crunching hits.

A few profanities along the sidelines and one spirited fistfight in the fourth quarter.

This game had everything a football fan could hope for — and not a single Y chromosome set foot on the playing surface.

Yes, this was football in pony tails, and there was no shortage of action.

Val Halesworth completed 8 of 15 passes for 115 yards and one touchdown and ran for another score to lead the New York Sharks to a 24-4 victory over the Austin (Texas) Outlaws in the inaugural Independent Women’s Football League championship game on Saturday.

About 200 fans showed up at Walter A. Phillips Field for the contest between the Eastern Conference champion Sharks and the Western Conference champion Outlaws.

"They hit a little harder than I thought they would," said Casey Kelley, a fishing guide from Medford who took in the game with a friend. "I never thought I’d see a group of women butt heads like that."

Added Tom Grauman of Talent: "Some of the runners don’t follow their blockers like they should, but overall I am impressed."

And leaving the greatest impression was Halesworth, a 5-foot-5, 140-pound quarterback from Oyster Bay, N.Y.

Halesworth played tackle football with her male counterparts until she was a freshman in high school, then pursued more conventional women’s sports such as field hockey, basketball and softball.

She went on to earn a scholarship in hoops at the University of Pittsburgh. But her first love was always football and she jumped at the chance to play for the Sharks when they formed a flag team nine years ago.

The team began to play tackle football in 1999 — winning its first game in full pads against the Minnesota Vixens.

The Sharks joined the IWFL last season and Saturday they completed an unbeaten season by winning their ninth game in as many starts.

"There’s just something about football that the other sports don’t provide — it’s hard to describe," the 36-year-old Halesworth said. "It’s always been my favorite sport."

Halesworth credits first-year Sharks coach Nick Giannatasio for her development as a quarterback. She threw one tight spiral after another Saturday and most of her passes were on the mark.

"He showed me everything — how to hold the ball, how to throw it, the follow-through, the footwork, you name it," said Halesworth, who finished with 23 touchdown passes and just three interceptions this season. "He’s been a great mentor for me."

Giannatasio coaches high school football in the fall, serving as the offensive coordinator for Bishop Ford High in Brooklyn, New York. The offense he put in for the Sharks is an off-shoot of the run-and-shoot.

"Val is a very hard worker and a very good leader," Giannatasio said. "She has control of the huddle."

Giannatasio said coaching women in their 20s and 30s is decidedly different than coaching teenage boys.

"The women are older and smarter but they like to debate more," Giannastasio said. "At our first meeting I asked if there were any questions and we must have sat around for another hour hashing things out.

"But that’s OK. That’s how you learn."

Halesworth scored on a 3-yard quarterback sneak for the game’s first touchdown, and Virginia Leon ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Sharks lead.

The Outlaws scored a safety late in the first period when Halesworth — lined up at the Sharks’ 4-yard line — intentionally ran out of her own end zone rather than punt the ball.

Leon skirted the right flanks for a 7-yard touchdown at the 10:48 mark of the third period, and Halesworth made it 16-2 when she hit Lori DeVivio with a two-point conversion.

Austin’s Monica Gauck fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at the New York 44, and Halesworth went to work once again. She hit Valerie Monaco on a fly pattern up the left sideline for 26 yards and one play later — on a bootleg — she lofted a 19-yarder to Monaco for a touchdown.

Halesworth then found Monica Marsh for another two-point conversion, and the Sharks had a 24-2 lead midway through the fourth period.

The only score after that was another safety by the Outlaws late in the third period.

The fourth period had a defining moment, however, when Austin’s Elanda Simmons and New York’s DeVivio exchanged punches in the middle of the field. Simmons was kicked out of the game for initiating the fight.

N.Y. Sharks 24, Austin Outlaws 4

Austin Outlaws 2 0 2 0 — 4

N.Y. Sharks 8 0 16 0 —24

N.Y. — Halesworth 3 run (Leon run).

A — Safety, N.Y. punter runs out of end zone.

N.Y. — Leon 7 run (DeVivio pass from Halesworth).

N.Y. — Monaco 19 pass from Halesworth (Marsh pass from Halesworth).

A — Safetym N,Y, punt snapped out of end zone.

TEAM STATISTICS

Austin New York

First Downs 8 12

Rushes-yards 37-97 34-100

Passing yards 33 115

Comp-Att-Int 3-8-1 8-15-2

Total yards 130 215

Punts 0-0 1-25

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-31 7-78

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Austin — Pace 26-71; DeMayo 5-32; Dixon 1-0; Urban 2-minus-8; Hines 2-minus-1Gauch 2-0.

New York — Eaton 18-66; Leon 9-14; Douglas 2-2; Williams 1-4; Halesworth 4-minus-13.

PASSING

Austin — Urban 1-4-1 for 4; Pace 1-3-0 for 18; Hines 1-1-0 for 11.

Home — Halesworth 8-15-2 for 115.

RECEIVING

Austin — Gauck 2-29; Pace 1-4.

New York— Monaco 5-76; DeVivio 1-14; Presto 1-22; March 1-3.

Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail dhunt@mailtribune.comN