OTTAWA, Kan. — The Hesston College women’s flag football team fell to Ottawa 27–7 on Wednesday evening in a game that was cut short by lightning in the third quarter.
Ottawa took the early lead in the first quarter after intercepting a Hesston pass and returning it six yards for a touchdown to go up 7–0. Hesston moved the ball on its next possession with completions from Alexis Pabon to Akiva Brown and Abygail Romero, but the drive stalled and the Larks were forced to punt.
In the second quarter, Ottawa extended the lead with a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 13–0. After a Hesston punt, Ottawa put together another scoring drive, finishing with a short touchdown pass to push the lead to 20–0.
Late in the second quarter, the Larks put together their best drive of the game. Pabon completed multiple passes, including a key fourth-down conversion to Emma Pfannenstiel to keep the drive alive. Later in the drive, Pabon connected with Lauren Payne and Liliana Espinoza to move the ball inside the five-yard line. Pfannenstiel finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run and added the extra point to cut the deficit to 20–7 before halftime.
In the second half, Ottawa added another touchdown through the air to extend the lead to 27–7. Hesston had a strong drive in the second half highlighted by a long completion from Pabon to Payne and another completion to Brown that moved the Larks into the red zone, but the drive ended without points.
Pabon finished the game 19-of-29 passing for 124 yards. Brown led the Larks in receiving with seven catches for 49 yards, while Payne added two receptions for 30 yards. Pfannenstiel scored the Larks’ lone touchdown on the ground.
Defensively, Destiny Ortiz and Liliana Espinoza each recorded interceptions for the Larks as the defense created multiple turnovers.
The Larks will look to bounce back in their next matchup in Nevada, Missouri at Cottey College on Saturday, April 4th.
