(CANTON, OH) The St. Louis SLAM have been on a perpetual quest for their fifth national championship within the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA) since 2019.
Saturday at the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, they finally claimed that goal.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
The SLAM topped the five-time defending champion Boston Renegades, 30-27, at Tom Benson Field in the WFA’s Pro Division finale to finish the season undefeated (9-0).
Their trophy win wasn’t easy, as Boston raced out to a gut-punching 14-0 lead seven minutes deep, but the SLAM calmly scored 20 points uncontested for the remainder of the first half, highlighted by a pair of touchdowns by second-year starter Kerri McMahan, who received Most Valuable Player honors following the game.
Leading 20-14 at intermission, the SLAM was outscored by Boston 13-10 in the second half but were able to shore down the three-point win with late defensive heroics.
Saturday’s battle was a re-match of last season’s WFA Pro championship, and a donnybrook was projected, mainly due St. Louis’ nine-point duke over Boston at home earlier this season.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
The second go-around between the two legacy franchises was even more dramatic.
With the game’s opening possession, Boston did not hesitate to post the afternoon’s initial points. An eight-play, 75-yard drive ensued that was topped by quarterback Megan McFadden’s two-yard touchdown pass to veteran Ruth Matta at the 10:54 mark. Margaret Barden’s PAT kick followed and Boston sported a 7-0 lead.
On their opening possession, SLAM quarterback Jaime Gaal had an attempted pass snared by Boston linebacker Deanna Walsh, which gave the Renegades possession at St. Louis’ 28 with nine minutes left in the quarter.
Boston quickly extended their lead two plays later with Matta’s second touchdown, a 27-yard romp with 8:37 left. Barden’s PAT kick pushed the defending champs’ lead to 14-0.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Behind the eight-ball early, the SLAM did not waver and notched their first score of the game one minute later via Jada Humphrey’s 55-yard end zone dash. Taylor Hay added the PAT kick that narrowed the score to 14-7 with 7:38 left in the first quarter.
St. Louis tied the score in the opening frames of the second quarter with a cleverly-disguised special teams play. Facing a fourth-down punting situation from their own 48, McMahan held onto the snap and quickly rushed 52 yards to the right side for a six-point strike. Hay’s kick afterwards notched the game at 14-14 with 14:02 left in the half.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Now at a deadlock, the SLAM’s defense – consisting of Tay Johnson, Maddie Embree, Kinnaudy Daniels, Mary Altepeter, Myah LeFlore, Alisha Straws, Stephanie Moore, Brooklyn Devitt, Ciara Morgan, Keyonna Smith and Kaylee Neutzling – returned to the field and regained the composure that had been missing earlier.
Boston sputtered on their next possession and punted back to St. Louis two minutes later. The SLAM took over at their own 18-yard line at the 12-minute mark and chewed up a lot of clock time in the quarter to post their next score.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
In a nine-minute stretch, the SLAM cobbled a methodical 17-play, 82-yard series, topped by McMahan’s 16-yard catch from Gaal with 3:41 left in the half that extended the SLAM’s lead to 20-14. Hay’s attempted kick afterwards was thwarted at the differential remained at six points.
Neither team was able to post points in the late minutes and SLAM held a 20-14 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Boston evened the score with an 11-play, 54-yard drive that was concluded with Matta’s third touchdown of the contest – a one-yard plunge – that pushed the score to 20-20. Barden’s attempted PAT afterward was blocked and the score remained tied.
In the opening stages of the fourth quarter, the SLAM was able to break the deadlock as Neutzling notched a 25-yard field goal with 13:15 left that pushed St. Louis’ lead to 23-20.
Feeling the heat, the Renegades started their opening drive of the final quarter with decent field position at their own 40, but the offense found no traction and subsequently punted the ball back to the SLAM.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Now starting at their own 41, the SLAM posted another impactful big play on offense. Shielded by the front line of Antonnia Washington, Pamela Green, Tamikka Brents, Marion Ball and Caitlin Erickson, Gaal connected with receiver Sydney Bloch and the rookie rumbled 59 yards for the touchdown reception with 10:58 left.
Neutzling’s successful PAT followed as the SLAM pushed their lead to 30-20.
The Renegades’ top-ranked offense, who had already amassed 361 yards at that checkpoint, went back into work starting at their own 28-yard-line and started quickly with a pair of lengthy first-down catches by Stephanie Pascual and another long run by Matta that pushed the ball to St. Louis’ 30-yard-line.
On the seventh play of the drive, Boston gambled with the aerial attack and McFadden’s attempted pass to Adrian Smith was intercepted by the SLAM’s Keyonna Smith at the 15 with 6:37 minutes remaining in the game.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Now up by double-digits and possession with about six minutes left, one could assume that the SLAM would be able to chew the clock and sail to victory.
The defending champs had other plans.
With 5:27 left and after the SLAM netted a first down via a Bloch reception, Renegades’ defender Kylee O’ Connor Harrel stripped the ball cleanly before the whistle sounded and returned it 38 yards for a jaw-dropping score. Barden’s clean PAT afterwards resulted in the SLAM clinching onto a 30-27 edge.
A long kickoff ensued and pinned the SLAM at their own nine-yard line, so they had to be cautious with their next possession. Three short carries by Humphrey only produced five yards, so St. Louis had no other option by to punt the ball and put their defense back onto the field.
McMahan booted a 40-yard punt that was hauled in by Boston’s O’ Conner Harrel and a 23-yard return gave Boston excellent field position at the St. Louis 27 with 3:50 remaining.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Staying focused, the SLAM’s defense forced a critical fourth-and-five situation at the 22 with 1:37 left. McFadden was able to complete her pass to Barden, but the front line of Altepeter, Johnson and others kept the ball short of the first down mark saw the Renegades saw their five-straight championship title reign come to a full stop.
St. Louis survived the WFA trophy tussle with the 30-27 championship win, their fifth overall, to achieve their spotless finish to the 2024 campaign.
Unofficially, Humphrey had 162 rushing yards off 21 carries with one touchdown.
Gaal finished the finale 11-of-24 for 140 passing yards with two touchdowns while both Bloch and McMahan each finished with a touchdown catch as they combined for 122 yards receiving.
As runner-up, Boston finished the season 5-3.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
After the game, the team donned their newly acquired championship hats and snapped a plethora of pictures with the Franco Harris Trophy, named after the Hall of Fame Pittsburgh running back.
The hard work and sweat equity invested during the past twelve months certainly paid off for the hard-working players, coaches and support personnel. They’re still enjoying the moment at the time of this publication.
But one can already bet that the SLAM’s future game plan will already start being implemented very shortly.
After all, they have a championship to defend.
For more information on the SLAM, go to their official website.
Additional photos from the championship game, courtesy of Gerald Affeldt.
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
Photo Credit: Gerald Affeldt
