San Diego Surge Women’s Football, One of the Best Teams in WFA, Make Second Round of Playoffs

The San Diego Surge, one of the Women’s Football Alliance’s 50 national teams, advanced to the second round of the playoffs June 25 after conquering the Silver State Legacy from Nevada 43-7.

Next Saturday July 9 they will play against the visiting Bay Area Bandits. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Marauder Stadium at Mira Mesa High School on 10510 Reagan Road, San Diego 92126.

The team should be ready for the second round of playoffs as the women already faced the Bay Area Bandits earlier this season.

“They are a team full of veteran players and amazing athletes,” said linebacker Traci Alexander of Imperial Beach. “We will need to play together as a team and to do the things that we have been working on since our last match up.”

The key factor in the upcoming game is experience, she said.

“Our team is full of veteran players who have years of experience in these type of positions during a playoff run,” she said. “They are the leaders that help the rookies through to make sure that they remain focused and relaxed.”

A win against Bay Area would make San Diego the west region champions. Then they would play Dallas or Kansas City for the conference championship on July 16.

The victor then plays the winner from the east for the league championship on July 30 in Dallas.

In their first playoff game, San Diego was up 35-0 at halftime thanks to two touchdowns catches by Carmen Cruz and an interception returned for a touchdown by Ashley Moody. The only score for the visiting team came on an interception return for a touchdown.

Although the team overpowered Silver State, 43-7 in their first playoff game of the season, head coach and defensive coordinator Mike Suggett said the team didn’t play to its’ potential the last half of the game.

“Overall the first half was strong, but the second half was extremely sloppy,” Suggett said. “Melissa Gallegos was off on her throws throughout the game, missing high on multiple throws. One of the throws led to an interception. Deana Guidry ran the ball extremely well gaining 74 yards on 8 carries.”

The defense held Silver State to 115 total yards, led by defensive end Cilena Mosley, who had four tackles and two sacks, and Moody had five tackles, three interceptions and one returned for a touchdown, he said.

Alexander said veteran quarterback Gallegos has been a key player.

In his analysis of the game, Football Gameplan Network commentator Emory Hunt called the Surge "one of the best teams on the West Coast by far" and expects them to win if Gallegos plays a good game.

The El Centro resident threw for 1,233 yards and 20 touchdowns in the regular season. Players on the team's roster come from across southern California to play for the Surge.

“She is a leader for our team and is instrumental in making sure that the offense is running as a complete unit,” Alexander said.

In the 2011 regular season the Surge offense averaged 58.2 points, 425.6 yards and 14.6 first downs a game. The team rushed an average of 205.1 yards and passed 220.5 yards a game.

Seven of its players, including Gallegos and Guidry, were selected to the WFA First Team All American squad.

Guidry of Los Angeles is leading the team in rushing with 52 carries totaling 706 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Wide receiver Jessica Javelet of San Diego has 29 receptions for 616 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Mosley has recorded 7 sacks and 47 tackles, linebacker Kalilah Lawson has 43 tackles and linebacker Amy Deal has 42.

Alexander broke her arm in the June 26 playoff game while playing on special teams. She said her arm and wrist break, a distal radial fracture, is fairly common, and still wants to play against the Bandits wearing a hard cast.

“It is still up in the air if I am definitely out for the season,” she said. “League rules will allow me to play if the cast is padded by the team trainer. I am absolutely willing to play with a cast, but ultimately it's up to the team doctors and the game day referees.”

This is the San Diego Surge’s first year in the Women’s Football Alliance. The team is ranked first in the American Conference South Pacific Division. The Surge finished the season undefeated with a 9-0 record.

Earlier this year the Surge beat the Bandits 42-13.

“Bay Area is a fast and very physical team. That game was our most physical of the regular season,” Suggett said. “We expect another physical game from Bay Area. We need to counter their aggressive defensive line with our speed. Bay Area has one of the best nose tackles in the game.”

He said the women need to play their best through every minute of the upcoming playoff game to earn a win.

“Since we've beat everyone by 20+ points we tend to get complacent,” Suggett said. “Our weakness has always been our own mental mistakes. The players tend to over think and it slows us down. They just need to step into the ring and be ready for a 12-round fight.”

He said the team isn’t going to do anything different in the playoff game than they did in the regular season.

“We play a high speed up tempo spread offense, which is hard to duplicate,” Suggett said. “We need to use this advantage and really go after Bay Area. Last time we played they had issues defending this up tempo style.”

Alexander said the team is keeping things simple to prepare for the upcoming game, and like anyone else, are trying to win by getting a little better with each game.

“This team is like my big loving dysfunctional family. Most of us have big personalities, but surprisingly they all mesh well together,” Alexander said. “These women are my sisters. All of us have made sacrifices to be on this team. We have all worked so hard towards one common goal and that is to be champions.” 

For more information or to buy playoff tickets ($12 each), visit the San Diego Surge website.