Valley Sports ReportWAVERLY — Waverly's 27-13 win over Elmira here Monday night at Memorial Stadium put the finishing touches on a night of celebrating the continued growth of the flag football program.
"It was just an awesome night in general," said Waverly coach David Shaw. "We played a JV game, then we were able to honor the Small Fry kids and our eight seniors.
"I am really proud of all of the girls, and how thoughtful they were," he noted. "It was just a great night for the entire program.
"As far as the seniors go, I am super proud of them and what they have given to this program," added Shaw. "They have done a great job leading all year."
Senior QB Brilynn Belles paced the Wolverines with three TD passes, two of them to sophomore Maci Wheeler.
Waverly took the lead midway through the first quarter — on senior Mira Kittle's 7-yard TD run — and never relinquished it. Belles pass to Wheeler gave the Wolverines a 7-0 lead with 6:10 remaining in the first quarter.
Belles ended Elmira's ensuing possession with an interception, then capped the drive with a 1-yard TD pass to Wheeler on the first play of the second quarter. Belles' pass to junior Makenzie Olmsted for the conversion made it 14-0.
Elmira closed the gap to 14-7 midway through the second quarter, and was moving late in the first half until Olmsted's interception with 10 seconds remaining shut down the drive.
Olmsted found the end zone on a 7-yard TD pass from Belles with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter. Belles' pass for conversion to senior Lizzy Robinson made it 21-7.
Belles' 4-yard TD pass to Wheeler with 4:50 remaining in the game gave the Wolverines a 27-7 lead.
Belles completed 23 of 35 passes for 199 yards, three TDs, and one interception.
Wheeler had eight grabs for 37 yards and two TDs, while Olmsted had six catches for 85 yards, and one TD, Robinson had five receptions for 34 yards, and sophomore Lauryn Welles added two catches for 43 yards.
Kittle led Waverly's ground game with 69 yards and one TD on 10 carries, and Olmsted added three carries for 21 yards.
Welles led Waverly with nine flag pulls, including one tackle-for-loss, while junior Lecksie Douglas had six pulls, one QB sack, and one pass deflection, Kittle had six pulls, Belles added four pulls, and senior Claire Clonch chipped in with three pulls.
Waverly, now 8-1, returns to action against last year's Section IV finalist Susquehanna Valley.
"We have to get back to work," said Shaw. "We have a tough game Saturday against Sus. Valley, who knocked us out of the playoffs last year."
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Shaw also issues a few "thank yous."
"I would also like to thank the Rec. Department and Eric Recnizec for putting the time and effort into starting the Small Fry program," he said. "It was awesome to see those girls out on the field tonight.
"We would like to give a huge shoutout to Matt Talada and Mac Talada for all of time behind the scenes to make tonight go smoothly and to Giff and Tyler Wolcott for the awesome pictures," added Shaw.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Brilynn Belles. IN TOP PHOTO" Waverly's Mackenzie Olmsted follows the block of Maci Wheeler. PHOTOS 19-24: JV Game. ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON. ...
