The Austin Outlaws‘ playoff journey took a major detour as their bus broke down in the middle of the night, 40 miles outside of Texarkana, during their 12-hour ride to face the Memphis Soul in the first round of the Women’s Football Alliance 2010 playoffs. What could have been a nightmare turned inspirational as the generous folks at the Central Baptist Church in Prescott, Ark., hopped out of bed and shuttled the tackle-football-playing ladies to local hotels. The kindness of strangers spurred Austin on to a 35-0 victory over the Soul – Shadanna Hurd (pictured) took the Outlaws’ first snap from scrimmage and ran it 99 yards down the field for the first of four TDs. Along with her outstanding performance, Austin’s defense deserves major kudos for holding Memphis scoreless, especially considering the time they spent on the field due to the offense’s speedy scores. The win affords the Outlaws some home cooking (and no hazardous bus trips) this weekend as they host the Las Vegas Showgirlz in the conference semifinal – the first time in the Outlaws’ 10-year history that they’ve made the second round of the playoffs. Good luck, ladies. Sat., July 10, 7pm. Chaparral Stadium at Westlake High, 4100 Westbank Dr., West Lake Hills. www.austinoutlaws.com.
This article appears in July 9 • 2010.