Gameday Recap

FORCE POUND ST. LOUIS 55-24

Photo by: Dave Bishop

St. Louis, MO – For the first time this season, the undefeated Chicago Force (6-0) played in sunny weather on a dry field. The Force must have liked the conditions because they exploded for 538 yards of total offense en route to a dominating 55-24 win over division rival St. Louis Slam. Quarterback Sami Grisafe threw for 384 yards and 4 TD's with most of the passes going to receivers Jeanette Gray and Albi Zhubi, who each had 2 TD receptions.

After exchanging initial possessions the Force took over on the Slam 36 yard line. On the first play Grisafe threw a quick screen pass Gray who followed 2 huge blocks from RB Jessica Springer to reach the end zone untouched. Carolyn Lee's kick was good to put Chicago on the board 7-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Chicago's Candace Griffin recovered the squib kick on the Slam 37 yard line, bringing the Force offense back onto the field. On fourth down Grisafe found Zhubi down the sideline for a 33 yard touchdown completion on a beautiful double move route. This time Lee's kick was wide - Chicago 13-0 midway through the first quarter.

The Chicago defense missed an assignment on the next possession allowing St. Louis to complete a 30 yard touchdown pass to RB Chris Hampton. The extra point kick reduced Chicago's lead to 13-7. Late in the first quarter Springer took a handoff and burst through the Slam secondary, juking and outrunning all defenders for a 62 yard TD. A failed 2 point conversion attempt put the score at Chicago 19, Slam 7. On the first play of the second quarter, Slam QB Katie Evers reversed field and raced 53 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. The kick was good, reducing Chicago's lead to 19-14.

This was as close as it would get as the Force put together a 62 yard drive which culminated in Springer carrying multiple Slam tacklers into the end zone on a 7 yard TD run up the middle. After Zhubi completed a 2 point conversion pass to Gray in the corner of the end zone, the Chicago lead was stretched to 27-14. But the scrappy Slam kept fighting back and added a 24 yard field goal to cut the margin to 27-17.

Once again the Force offense answered the call and put together a long drive, converting a critical 4th down situation on a pass to WR Ashley Berggren who powered through multiple tacklers for the first down. The drive was capped off by a 4 yard TD run from RB Leslie Johnson. Chicago failed on the 2 point conversion attempt: Chicago 33, St. Louis 17.

A Slam three and out gave the high-powered Force offense another opportunity with 57 seconds left in the first half ... turns out Chicago only needed 8 seconds to take it to the house. Grisafe again connected with Zhubi on a double move down the sideline for a 55 yard touchdown. Zhubi then threw to Gray for another 2pt conversion to push the Force lead to 41-17 at the half.

In the second half Chicago scored on a perimeter screen to Zhubi who scampered 55 yards for a touchdown courtesy of a huge pancake block from Springer. The final Force score was a 15 yard run by Springer in the third quarter, who finished with 127 yards on just 7 carries, 3 receptions for 25 yards, and 3 TD's. The Slam pushed across another score on a fourth quarter drive that was extended by a facemask penalty against Chicago. Final score, Chicago 55, St. Louis 24.

The Force defense was led by linebacker Darcy Leslie with twelve tackles and Kim Marks with ten. Safety Martha Dantuma had five tackles and also knocked down 4 passes. Overall the defense had 4 tackles for a loss and 2 sacks - one each by DT's Kim Marks and Amanda Malsch. "After playing poorly in last week's game it was important for us to come out firing on all cylinders. This was an excellent performance for us," said Head Coach John Konecki.

The Force will be on the road for the final two games of the regular season on June 11 (West Michigan Mayhem) and June 18 (Indy Crash), both are 7pm kickoffs. The Force are in a good position to host the first round of playoffs on June 25th if they win the next two games.