West Michigan Mayhem end regular season with rout of Indiana

by Aaron Mueller | Kalamazoo Gazette

Saturday June 27, 2009, 11:53 PM

Brett Beier / Special to the Gazette West Michigan Mayhem tight end Amy DeYoung, left, dives for the end zone past Indiana's April Hedgspeth for a third-quarter touchdown Saturday evening.

VICKSBURG -- The undefeated West Michigan Mayhem women's football team found some extra motivation before Saturday night's regular-season finale against the Indiana Speed.

Indiana was the only team that scored against the Mayhem all season.

This game was different.

Running back Cat Converse, who said she and the team studied film intensely this week, led the Mayhem to a 21-0 clobbering of Indiana. She powered her way for 105 yards on 15 carries.

"This team (Indiana) was the only team during the regular season that really gave us a challenge," Converse said. "Being only a five-point differential game first time around, we had to get really hyped to play them this week.

"This was the biggest game going for the division championship and home-field advantage in the playoffs."

In that previous meeting, Indiana played right along with the Mayhem in a 20-15 West Michigan victory. The victory gave the Mayhem a home playoff game against Columbus in the first round. 

Mayhem coach Matt Koch said the team did not want to settle for anything less than a shutout Saturday.

The Mayhem scored the first touchdown on their first drive of the game and never looked back. Danielle Daughtry set the table for the score by returning the opening kickoff to the Indiana territory and catching two passes on the drive.

Tight end Amy DeLong then reeled in a pass in the end zone from Jody Markwart to cap off the drive.

DeLong scored the team's final touchdown in the third quarter as well.

"She had two big catches," Koch said. "She's not the fastest girl in the world, but she has great hands."

Indiana (6-2) had its chances to score, getting into Mayhem territory several times, but the defense came up with turnovers each time.

West Michigan picked off Indiana seven times in the game, three of them by rookie linebacker Katie Sowers, who switched to defense only a month ago.

"We had great pressure on the quarterback all night," Koch said. "When the quarterback has to rush what she's used to doing, that can create problems. That created (seven) interceptions."

The offense took advantage of the turnovers. After a turnover late in the first quarter, Raegan Radke scampered 24 yards for a score to give the Mayhem a 14-0 advantage.
West Michigan (8-0) finished a perfect regular season and outscored opponents 332-15 on the year.