The 2002 season started off with tragedy for the New York Sharks. Their beloved teammate Sharon Pascale died in a car crash on Christmas Day. The team was going to dedicate this new season in a new league in memory of her.
From day 1, the Sharks dominated every team that they played during the regular season. The defense was almost perfect, giving up only 2 scores all season while the offense averaged over 43 points per game. While the Sharks were the eastern division champions, out west the Austin Outlaws were pretty dominating themselves. The two teams were to meet on a Independence Day weekend for the first IWFL National Championship game to be held out in Ashland, Oregon.
This was the second time around for the Sharks in the playoffs. In 2000 they were co-leaders of their division but lost in the opening round of the playoffs.
It was a very hot day at gametime. It wasn't humid but the air was so dry that you couldn't sweat, any perspiration would evaporate almost immediately. It didn't help matters as the Sharks were wearing black uniforms.
New York lost the coin toss but Austin chose to kick the ball. It was a choice that the Sharks made the Outlaws soon regret. The Sharks offense was led by star quarterback Val Halesworth who was the league's leading passer, but the Sharks also had a potent running attack with Courtney Eaton.
On the opening drive, New York moved the ball mostly on the ground. The drive almost came to a stop as the Sharks had a crucial fourth down on the Austin 30-yard line. New York went for it as Halesworth looked to make a pass. Austin's defensive line broke through and chased Halesworth out of the pocket. When it looked like they were going to catch her, she tried to throw a pass but started to fall as she threw. Nonetheless, the football found it's target, Eaton at the Austin12-yard line. New York moved the ball all the way down to the 3-yard line when it was fourth down. Relying on a surge by her offensive line, Halesworth followed her blockers into the endzone to give the Sharks the lead.
Austin's offensive strength was their running game. Margaret Pace was handed the ball time after time and she was able to move the Outlaws down the field. But once they got into the red zone, the Sharks defense put up a wall and denied Austin from scoring. This was a good thing, but New York now had to start their drive deep in their own territory and they could not find much success. Sharks head coach Nick Giannatasio then ordered Halesworth to run out of the endzone on fourth down to take a safety instead of going for the punt. Since the Sharks rarely punted all season, he had more faith in his defense than in his special teams.
This made the score 8-2 and that is the way the score was at the end of the first half. Both defenses were able to stop the potent offense of the other side.
When the Outlaws won the coin toss in the beginning of the game, they chose to kick the ball instead of saying they wanted to defer to the second half. This meant that the Sharks could choose what they wanted for the beginning of the second half, and they chose to receive the ball. The Sharks again made Austin pay for their mistake by scoring on their opening drive of the second half. Mostly keeping the ball on the ground by giving it to Eaton and Virgina "Cha Chi" Leon the Sharks scored another touchdown. The 2-point conversion was successful on a pass from Halesworth to Lori DeVivio. This made the score 16-2, early in the third quarter.
Austin was starting to feel the championship slipping away. On the ensuing kick-off, kick returner Monica Gauck tried to get her team back in the game with a nice return but as she kept trying to get more yardage, she fumbled the football and the Sharks recovered it.
Another Outlaw mistake and the Sharks quickly took advantage of it. This time they went to the air and Halesworth connected with wide receiver Val "Peanut" Monaco twice for gains of 25 and 19 yards for the Sharks third score of the game. New York went for the 2-point conversion and Monica Marsh caught the pass to give the Sharks a 24-2 lead.
From there the Sharks defense continued to shut down the Outlaws. They did not allow Austin to score but they did set up the last score of the game. Playing safety, Halesworth intercepted an Austin pass at New York's own 20-yard line. The Sharks offense lost some yards on the drive and were forced to punt deep in their own territory. On fourth down, the long snap sailed over the punter's head resulting in another safety for the Outlaws, but that was all they would score.
The final score was 24-4 in favor of New York. The Sharks had just won the biggest game of the year and now had the title of national champions. It was a bittersweet moment as they had done it without their teammate Sharon, but they kept the vow that they made in February to win it for her.
For more details on the game, visit the Sharks' gameday write-up.
Next week at #1, Smackdown
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