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Illusions Seek Next Level

April,15 2006

The players were psyched. The coach was soaked. That’s how the Erie Illusion were last seen. The team had shut out the Toledo Spit fire 44-0 in the finale of its 2005 National Women’s Football Association season.

After the game, Illusion coach Bob Beres was doused in ice water along the Tullio Field sidelines. It’s a familiar football ritual. Just not one from a team that finished 3-5.

For players like Tiffany Peterson, though, it still was cause for celebration. Peterson was a member of the original Illusions team that went 0-8 in 2003. “Back then,” she said “I think we got pretty excited when we scored.”

The Illusion started 0-15 before they won their final game of 2004. Last year’s record nudged them closer to the .500 season they’d like to reach. Maybe even pass.

Erie plays at Toledo tonight to open its fourth NWFA season. The Illusion and Spitfire kick off at 7 at Rossford High School Stadium.

It’s the first of four straight road games for Erie, which won’t play at Tullio Field until Memorial Day weekend. The Illusion’s eight regular-season games are against the Spitfire, the Pittsburgh Passion, the Cleveland Fusion and the Columbus Comets.

Caravans to the Buckeye State will be easier on odometer than in 2005, when the Illusion played four times in New England. The mammoth road trip did have one benefit.

“It’s easier to have a rivalry with Pittsburgh than Portland, Maine,” Beres said, “but the one bug thing was that it helped us bond. I think the corps of our team started gelling, which was important. By that last game (against Toledo) you could see it.”

The brunt of Erie’s 2006 roster has two or three years of NWFA experience.
Peterson was the team’s leading rusher and scorer last season. She showed why when she ran for 200 yards and scored five touchdowns in the win over Toledo.

Quarterbacks Casey Miller and Mary McDade are back, but Beres also has Julie Kemling to consider. Kemling took snaps for the original Illusion.

Other Erie veterans include tailback Amanda Tomeo, tight end Wendy Payne, kicker Erin Cray and fullback Lisa Fernandez.

“The return players have felt pretty good about our practices,” Fernandez said. “We know what we’re supposed to do now and that allows us to build up more (play) options.”

“Honestly,” Beres said, “we now have players that know the ins and outs of football. We can concentrate more on a game plan rather than focusing on the fundamentals of a handoff.”
Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Columbus comprise the Northern Conference’s North Central Division.

The conference’s four division winner and two wild cards will qualify y for the playoffs.
The 2006 Super Women’s Football Championship will take place Aug. 5 at a site to be determined.

 

 

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