GOSHEN - Owego flag football added to their unbeaten record on Wednesday night, traveling down state to face Section IX champion, Rhinebeck in the Class C Sub Regional, defeating the Hawks 38-7 in a rain soaked playoff match-up.

On the opening possession, Owego forced a Rhinebeck three and out. OFA took over in Hawks territory on the 31-yard line and on their first play from scrimmage, Ashlyn Dalton took it the distance on a direct snap to score. With a successful extra point, OFA went up 7-0.

Rhinebeck pushed it's way down field on their second possession, but a holding penalty and some tenacious defense by Bella Silvestri halted the drive.

OFA's Kylie Grippen connected with Dalton and Jaelynne Lovell to move the ball in the steady rain for Owego on the ensuing drive. However, on 4th and three from the Rhinebeck 23-yard line, the Hawks got the stop they needed to force a turnover on downs.

Owego's defense continued to hold its ground though, once again forcing a Rhinebeck punt. OFA started their next possession deep in their own territory, but a big Silvestri run off-tackle quickly put the River Hawks at midfield. After a pair of back-to-back incompletions, Owego chose to play the field position game, punting it away and pinning Rhinebeck deep with 10:22 left in the half.

Once again the OFA defense did its part. This time it was Kylie Craven hauling in an interception to get her offense the ball back. On the next play, Grippen hit Dalton on a pass to the 10-yard line, followed by a Silvestri touchdown run to put Owego up two scores, 13-0 after a failed extra point conversion.

Rhinebeck failed to get anything going in an attempt to put some points up before the half, punting to the River Hawks with 4:29 left before the break.

Owego wasn't finished though, marching down the field to score again, after Dalton reversed field on another touchdown run to take a 20-0 lead to the half.

The River Hawks began the second half with the ball. On the first play, OFA ran a direct snap that then turned into a pitch play to Lexi Herceg who took it 66 yards for the score.

The OFA defense continued their dominant play throughout the second half with Silvestri and Olivia Dodge making multiple tackles and providing excellent coverage when necessary. Dodge would tack on an offensive touchdown as well, while Eliana Vasquez added the final River Hawks' score to secure the 38-7 victory.

"Rhinebeck is a very good team. They only had one loss for a reason. Their QB is a stud and they had good athletes around her," said OFA coach, Rusty Virkler.

"Our defense stepped up big time today, playing really solid and pulling flags well in the rain."

"On offense, it's always tough to pass the ball in the rain, but everyone stepped up to make plays happen and we came out with a win against a really tough opponent," added Virkler. 

Owego flag football improves to 16-0 and now advances to face Hendrick Hudson in the Regional Final on Saturday at Tappan Zee High School, located in Orangeburg, New York.

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PHOTO: TCSR STOCK