SURGE SURVIVE OT, GO TO DALLAS FOR SEMI

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

By Nick Pellegrino via staff and wire reports

June 26, 2017 (Clovis) - In a contest with so many storylines, the San Diego Surge women’s football team advanced to the national semifinals of the Women’s Football Alliance by outlasting the previously unbeaten Central Cal War Angels 35-34 in overtime on Saturday (June 17).

The Surge will next meet the Midwest Region champion Dallas Elite in a Final Four pairing, to be played in Southlake, Texas, on Saturday, July 8. The stadium was recently the site of national boys high school record for the mile (3:59.30).

For the Surge, just getting to the American Conference final was considered a bit of a miracle.
In six seasons of Surge football, the ballclub lost just twice at home — both this season to the Pacific Warriors and the War Angels. But in postseason play, the third-place Surge vanquished both, winning 51-30 in L.A., then going to the Central Valley for their first-ever overtime affair.
 
Down 12-0, Surge quarterback Melissa Gallegos found Kaycee Clark for a touchdown, then Dejanae Harvey rumbled 90 yards for a score and a 13-12 lead with 1:49 left until intermission. However, Central Cal scores on the final play of the first half for a 20-13 lead.
Harvey then scored another Surge touchdown to tie it at 20-20 late in the third quarter, but Central Cal responded on its next drive to take a 28-20 advantage with 13 minutes remaining.
 
San Diego finally forced overtime on a Deana Guidry touchdown reception with 40.4 second to play. A two-point conversion sent the game to extra time.
 
Although the WFA plays mostly by NFL rules, they utilized the NCAA college overtime rules, thus both teams receive a possession.
 
Central Cal scored on its time with the ball, but missed the kick. So when San Diego also scored a TD, but made the kick, they were able to punch their ticket to Texas.

Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.