Slam rides 'The Bus' to semifinal victory
.

 "This is
phenomenal."

She may possess a unique ability to transport, but that's not the only reason
Chris Hampton is known as "The Bus."

The St. Louis Slam running
back/linebacker, a Roosevelt High graduate, also wears No. 36 - ala former St.
Louis Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome "The Bus" Bettis. And
just like her namesake, defenders are advised to avoid stepping in front of her,
unless they enjoy being run over.

"She is physical," said Slam middle
linebacker Kelly Kozlen of her powerful teammate. "But she is also
fast."

Hampton was definitely a load for the Jacksonville Dixie Blues to
bring down Saturday night. The 5-foot-6, 210-pound running back carried the ball
19 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and backs Danielle Cullen and Pat
Riggins scored twice as well in a hard-fought, 40-32 semifinal victory at
Oakville High School.

The Slam (9-0), champions of the American
Conference, advance to the championship game of the Women's Football Alliance on
Aug. 15 in New Orleans. There they will face the West Michigan Mayhem (10-0),
champions of the National Conference. Michigan defeated the Philadelphia Liberty
Belles 28-21 Saturday night.

Slam coach Quincy Davis, an assistant at
Ladue High, said everyone contributed to the victory.

"I don't think I
could pinpoint one thing we did better than another," Davis said. "The offense
played well, the defense was good and so were the special teams. This was a
total team effort."

Hampton, 36, of Richmond Heights, began playing for
the Slam six years ago. A tomboy growing up, Hampton said her mom used to keep
her away from the girls, in part because she loved physical contact.

So
when friends urged her to try out for the Slam, Hampton took in a game. And she
was shocked at what she saw.

"I saw some of the girls who were playing,
and they didn't look as tough as me," Hampton said. "They were ordinary people
like me. I thought, 'I know I can do this.' And pretty soon I was a
starter."

It was Cullen who did most of the damage early on, carrying
eight times for 38 yards on the Slam's initial possession. But the key play was
a fourth down half-back-option pass from Kate Evers to Katie Ode. Cullen's
plunge on fourth-and-inches put the Slam up 6-0 with 2:27 to play in the first
quarter.

Following a Kelly Kozlen fumble recovery, the Slam added six
more points before the end of the quarter on a 1-yard plunge by Riggins, the
team's oldest player at 48. The TD was set up by a 28-yard pass play from
quarterback Liz Lacy to Evers, and the extra point was
blocked.

Jacksonville responded, getting on the board minutes later on a
20-yard swing pass from quarterback Brantley Mack to running back Kim Brown. But
St. Louis came right back, sparked by a 32-yard kickoff return from Toya Brown.
Hampton scored from 2 yards out, and an incomplete pass on the point after left
the score at 18-6 with 6:30 left in the second quarter.

Each team score
once more before halftime, Jacksonville on a 29-yard TD pass from Mack to
Michelle Robinson, and St. Louis on a 1-yard run by Cullen, who wound up with 66
yards on 15 carries. The Dixie Blues booted the extra point, while the Slam's
Lacy passed to Kelly Keen for the two-point conversion, making it
26-13.

Things got a little tight for the Slam and their crowd in the
third when Ishika Lay scored on 15-yard sweep, cutting the lead to six points.
But the Slam drove down the field on its next possession, and scored on a 1-yard
run by Riggins, who also ran in the two-point conversion for a 34-20 lead with
1:40 left in the third.

Jacksonville coach Don Braddock said he knew
coming in that the Slam had very capable backs and a dangerous passer in Lacy,
who completed 9 of 16 passes for 152 yards. Evers made four catches for 68
yards, while Gail Graff caught two for 35.

He said his players were in
the right position, but just couldn't get a big stop when they needed
it.

"They made some great plays against us tonight against tight
coverage," Braddock said. "I knew they were a well-coached team with some really
talented players."

As effective as the Slam was, Braddock believes the
home field advantage was a huge factor.

"We left Jacksonville at 4 a.m.
this morning," Braddock said. "I think that hurt us. But they won it, and I hope
they go ahead and win it all."

Hampton contends her team won it because
the coaching staff - Davis and assistants Reggie Crume, Stan Johnson, Rodney
Lacy and Doug Roth fuss - made sure the team was in top-notch shape.

Hampton, who closed out the Slam
scoring drive with a 53-yard burst off left tackle on which she wasn't touched. "Our
coaches make us want to be better.

"This is unbelievable. That is what I
love about this organization ... We're like a family."

It was an
especially sweet win for Kozlen, Riggins, Robin Morrow, Myrt Davis and Elizabeth
Williams - five Slam players who have been with the team since its inception. It
is also bittersweet for Williams, 31, a sergeant in the United States Army, who
is being deployed to Iraq this week and won't be able to make the trip to New
Orleans with her teammates.

After the players wrapped up their postgame
speeches near their bench, they turned toward the Slam fans, many of whom are
longtime supporters who stuck around to celebrate with them. In unison, the
players shouted out, "Thank You Fans!"

Then Slam public address announcer
Bruce Veach, who had been pumping up the partisan crowd all evening with "That's
a Slam ... FIRST DOWN!" every time St. Louis moved the chains, fired back, "No,
thank you Slam!"

There were hugs all around, especially from Slam owner
and south St. Louis resident Nancy Simonds, the organization's first head
coach.

"We've all been working for this for so long," she said