However, Mackenzie Benker and the Warhawks had one more big play left for the Red & Green. Forcing a punt with 36 seconds left, Benker received the kick and executed her biggest play of the rainy night as she broke through the Jamestown punt team into the open field and did not slow down, racing over 50 yards for her fourth touchdown of the evening in an eventual 25-19 victory at Strider Field.

“Their team hasn’t been full all the time, but she was here tonight and she runs the ball really well as you can see,” Jamestown head coach Steve Propheter said about Benker. “She did just a good job making us miss as we did them. She’s explosive and has good moves too. She has more of an upfield burst when she makes you miss and that combined with the rain less flags were pulled.”

In a night in which the weather dictated how offenses would play, Benker and the Warhawks adjusted best as she managed three big rushing touchdowns in the second half from 17, 56 and 45 yards.

“Obviously, you don’t want the season to end this way on a rainy night up here at Strider Field,” Propheter stated. “With that ball it’s tough, you really can’t throw that ball around. I thought we did really well on the ground on the run and I give kudos to West Seneca over there because they figured out the run game and they won the second half.”

Jamestown’s Marcia McIntyre looks for room to run during Wednesday’s Section VI Class A flag football quarterfinal against West Seneca at Strider Field in Jamestown. P-J photo by Tim Frank

Instead of spreading the ball among its playmakers, No. 4 Jamestown heavily relied on quarterback Marcia McIntyre and running back Kaylee Leeper through the ground game which at most had a few pitches.

“We have to play with this composite ball, we’re not allowed to use the leather ones with the girls for some reason,” Propheter added. “That absolutely limits the throwing downfield, so it takes a lot out of your playbook. So you’ve got to find ways to get creative and once you find that play that works the dumbest thing you can do as a coach is outsmart yourself and switch it up.”

The Red & Green first reached paydirt in the first half after grinding into scoring position. On fourth-and-6, McIntyre pitched the ball to Leeper who darted in just before having her flag stripped to take a 6-0 lead.

Jamestown nearly added another touchdown before halftime, but Benker pulled the flag from Grayson Bloomquist at the 1-yard line for a turnover on downs with less than 10 seconds remaining.

West Seneca came out of the second half charged up by the big stop and scored its first touchdown, but Jamestown seemed to find its groove.

McIntyre and Leeper both put on display their athletic talent rushing and spinning through the West Seneca defense, but were unable to reach the end zone. Instead the Red & Green buried the Warhawks deep in their own end and West Seneca resorted to looking for a pass out of it.

That was a big mistake as Leeper picked off Benker and returned it for a touchdown with 11:53 remaining and McIntyre’s conversion gave Jamestown a 13-6 lead.

“She’s carried us all season, her and Marcia McIntyre,” Propheter said about the offense going through Leeper and McIntyre. “Her running ability and the way that she can cut has really made a lot of games for us. She has been huge for us on both sides of the ball, defensively as a safety. Her and Payton Gibbs back there have made a lot of interceptions for us,”

Instead of returning to the run, West Seneca tried again with a pass and on the following possession Payton Gibbs grabbed an interception for the Red & Green. That interception directly resulted in a third touchdown from Leeper as she scampered in from 17 yards for the 19-6 lead with 7:35 remaining.

“Coach Joly does an amazing job,” Propheter said. “He runs the defense, I run the offense. He gets these girls ready, he can call out most of their plays and those girls know where they’re going to be in position to make a play. Payton is a big basketball player and that rebound instinct, she goes up and attacks that ball and she has quite a few interceptions this year.”

This time West Seneca had the response it needed as less than a minute later Benker broke free for a 56-yard touchdown. Then two minutes after that she rushed for 45 yards to tie the game at 19-19.

It appeared the game would head for overtime, but Benker ended Jamestown’s (4-5-1) season with her fourth and final touchdown to send the fifth-seeded Warhawks (4-9) into the semifinals against No. 1 Kenmore (13-2) on Friday.

“We started off the season with two losses,” Propheter said about the season. “We were still a little bit young and learning a lot. Once we hit our league schedule the girls really started turning around and learning from their mistakes. We did really well in the league, I’m proud of these girls.”