The Queen’s Powderpuff football team arrived at Waterloo’s Wilfred Laurier University last weekend and took the 24-team tournament by storm.
After allowing no points throughout the six-game competition, the defence held strong, allowing only one score while quarterback and running back Laura Johnstone scored two touchdowns to defeat a hometown team from the University of Waterloo 14-7 in the final.
The team wreaked havoc on their opponents, going undefeated in the tournament’s three round-robin games and three playoff games.
In Saturday’s quarter-final game, Queen’s faced a team from Laurier. With the game scoreless in overtime, Katie McKenna kicked a 30-yard field goal after missing her previous two to seal the win.
“We went down there with high expectations, expecting to win and when we did everyone was really excited that our hard work paid off,” said offensive coach Blaise Morrison.
Queen’s defence struck fear into the other teams, with Hilary Dowdall making four interceptions and the team making a total of nine.
“The offence played great. The offensive line stepped up and our back field was awesome. … Nobody could stop our run game,” Morrison said.
Johnstone scored on two runs of more than 50 yards in the final.
“[Johnstone] was dominant at both running back and quarterback,” Morrison said.
The team selection was a three-month process. During that time the girls practised once a week. The victory in the final was a great way to finish the weekend, Morrison said.
“It was a sigh of relief when we won. … [The girls] had lots of fun and the coaches had lots of fun too. We got excited when we saw them jumping around when they won. I was happy to see their hard work pay off.”
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