ATLANTA, Ga. – The Ottawa University women's flag football team will compete for the program's third straight NAIA Women's Flag Football Finals Championship on Saturday after defeating Thomas University, 19-0, on Friday morning at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Thomas received the ball to open the game, driving it to the OU 22 yard line. The OU defense held, forcing a turnover on downs and the OU offense took over.
The Braves put together a six play, 58 yard drive that ended with a
Madysen Carrera touchdown pass to
Jazlyn Camacho. The extra point was good and Ottawa had a 7-0 lead with 2:58 left in the first quarter.
The Night Hawks took their second offensive possession of the game down to the OU two yard line. On the seventh play of the drive,
Hailee McKay broke up the pass and the Braves forced a second straight turnover on downs.
Ottawa's offense was forced to punt, and Thomas took over on its own 21 yard line. TU had the ball second and 19 from OU's 39 yard line. That is where
Jukanie Washington picked off the Alexa Wilson pass and OU took over on its own 17 yard line with 3:27 to go in the second quarter.
The Braves were able to cash in on the turnover, putting together an eight play, 63 yard scoring drive drive. Carrera connected with
Alyssa Linkous for the six yard touchdown pass. The extra point try was no good and the Braves took a 13-0 lead into the locker room.
Ottawa received the ball to start the second half but was forced to punt. The OU offense did not have to wait long to get the ball back. On the fourth play of the Thomas drive, Washington earned her second interception of the day and the Braves took over on its own four yard line.
On third and five from the OU 15 yard line, Carrera threw a pass down the middle of the field to Linkous. The ball tipped off her into the waiting hands of Camacho. She ran the ball down to the one yard line where her flag was pulled. Carrera finished the drive with a touchdown pass to Linkous and the Braves had a 19-0 lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
Thomas took its next possession down the field and on a fourth and six from the OU six yard line, Thomas' Wilson tried to run the ball in. She stepped out of bounds at the one yard line before she hit the pylon, giving the Braves back the ball on its own one yard line with 11:05 left in the game.
Ottawa did not have the ball for long as TU's Janae Scott intercepted Carrera's pass and the Night Hawks had the ball on the OU 34 yard line.
The Brave defense came away with their third interception of the game on TU's next to final drive of the game. On fourth and 14,
Nina GraveDePeralta came away with the pick in the endzone the OU took over on the 14 yard line with 4:15 on the clock.
OU ran two minutes off the clock before being forced to punt. Thomas ran one play before the time hit 2:00, ending the game and the Braves took the 19-0 victory.
Inside the Box Score
- The Braves finished the game with 283 yards of offense, 70 rushing and 213 passing. Thomas had 198 yards of offense, five yards rushing and 193 yards passing.
- Madysen Carrera rushed for 62 yards. She also threw for 213 yards (22-27), completed 81 percent of her passes, and threw three touchdowns.
- Addison Orsborn and Alyssa Linkous led the Braves with six receptions apiece. Linkous had two touchdowns.
- Jazlyn Camacho led the Braves with 70 receiving yards.
- Abby Brown and Nina GraveDePeralta led OU with six flag pulls apiece. GraveDePeralta had one interception and one pass break up.
- Jukanie Washington finished the game with two interceptions and four flag pulls.
Who is Next
Ottawa (17-0) will play the winner of Keiser University/Thomas University game in the Women's Flag Football Final Championship Game. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. (cst).
