Valley Sports ReportJOHNSON CITY — Waverly built a 24-7 lead at the half, and held on for a 24-20 win over Johnson City here on a frigid Wednesday night in Section IV flag football action.
"As Coach (Jason) Miller always says 'it’s not easy to win,'" said Waverly coach David Shaw. "I am really proud of the girls for finding a way to win and competing to the bitter end.
"We definitely continue to improve because the girls continue to work hard.
"We played a great first half tonight — probably the best of the year," noted Shaw. "Johnson City's QB is a very good athlete and I thought they had some good athletes at wide receiver ... they played a good second half — kudos to them."
Waverly took a 6-0 lead on its first possession, with junior Brilynn Belles connecting with junior Lea Cole on an 18-yard TD pass.
Less than five minutes later, Belles hooked up with freshman Maci Wheeler on a 10-yard TD pass to make it 12-0.
Waverly's defense got the ball back again, and Belles capped a scoring drive with a 4-yard TD pass to Wheeler with 10:37 remaining in the first half to make it 18-0.
Johnson City QB Megan Rought put the Wildcats on the board with a 16-yard TD run with 8:21 left in the half to close the gap to 16-7.
The Wildcats were poised to cut deeper into the Waverly lead, but Waverly senior Addison Westbrook picked off a Rought pass at the 1 — her seconds interception of the game and seventh of the season — and raced 79 yards for a TD with 28 seconds remaining in the half to make it 24-7.
Rought scored on TD runs of 10 and 21 yards in the second half to trim the deficit to 24-20.
The Wolverine defense came up big with a stop at the Waverly 38 with 33 seconds remaining in the game to seal the victory.
Belles completed 15 of 28 passes for 136 yards and three TDs, while being picked off twice.
Westbrook led Waverly with five catches for 57 yards, while Wheeler had four receptions for 27 yards and two TDs, and Cole had three grabs for 37 yards and one TD. Senior Brinn Cooney added two catches for 11 yards.
Junior Mira Kittle, who had two catches for 4 yards, led Waverly's ground game with 63 yards on eight carries, and Belles added 33 yards on six carries.
Westbrook led Waverly with five tackles and two pass break-ups, while sophomore Lecksie Douglas had four tackles, two pass break-ups and one interception, and Kittle had four tackles, one QB sack and one pass break-up.
Wheeler also had four tackles, while Lizzy Robinson had three tackles, including one tackle-for-loss, and 8th-grader Gianna Rylott had a QB sack.
Waverly, now 3-2, returns to action at Owego Thursday.
"We travel to Owego tomorrow and they are a different animal," said Shaw.
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IN PHOTO: Waverly's Brilynn Belles. ... VSR STOCK PHOTO.
