September 18, 2019 ·
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News
The Vixen will be taking the big stage, playing for the first time ever, at the home of the Minnesota Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium. As part of the Annual Winter Pigskin Classic, watch as Vixen vs. Vixen clash on the gridiron and battle it out a full 20 minutes in our Red and Black Exhibition Game. Who will prevail? Only the score will tell.
More about the Winter Classic and the Day’s Events
The SPFL is excited to welcome the longest running professional women’s football team, our very own Minnesota Vixen to the 2019 SPFL Pigskin Classic. The Vixen will take the field in an intra-team match-up of existing players and Vixen Alumni on Sunday, October 20th during the halftime of the third game (Invaders vs. Force). The Vixen and the SPFL hope this will lead to not only a high profile exposure for the Vixen as they prepare for 2020, but that we can hope than in 2020 we are able to bring them in the Pigskin Classic with a worthwhile opponent out of their WFA ranks.
The Southern Plains Football League (SPFL) is an amateur 9-man adult tackle football league with teams based out of SD/MN/IA. The 6th annual Pigskin Classic will be held on Saturday and Sunday October 19th and 20th, at U.S. Bank Stadium, the home of the Minnesota Vikings, in the heart of downtown Minneapolis MN. Twenty-six adult amateur and semi-pro teams will mix it up for seven games on Saturday and six games on Sunday. Additionally, there will be as many as 30 youth teams, from 3rd-6th grade participating at half time of many of the games on both days.
The projected kickoff times and match-ups are as follows:
Sunday, October 20, 2019
9:00 am Northland Bulls vs. Minneapolis Warriors
11:00 am Central Iowa Chiefs vs. Madison Warriors
1:00 pm Fargo Invaders vs. Fox Valley Force With Minnesota Vixen Exhibition Game at half time
3:00 pm SE MN Warhawks vs. Tri-State Buffalos
5:00 pm Dakota Wat Eagles vs. Sioux empire Crusaders
7:00 pm Newton Nite Hawks vs. Tri-City Northstars
There will also be a silent auction each day. Follow along at www.mySPFL.com , click on the Pigskin Classic or on the Facebook page: SPFL Winter Pigskin Classic.
June 12, 2019 ·
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News
The regular season has now come to pass. In his freshman season as a head coach, Ryan McCauley led his Vixen to an impressive seven win season. He and his staff have ten WFA All-American players on their team. The season was nothing short of amazing.
But this week, everything changes.
The Vixen head back to Saint Louis, the only team to beat them this season, for the opening round of the WFA Division II Playoffs.
“It doesn’t matter what we did before this week, who are All Americans are, or anything like that,” says wide receiver coach Jake Potter. “It is now about who is the better team at the end of the game.”
It would be rather dismissive for anyone to say that St. Louis is a better team than the Vixen. The two teams actually match up incredibly well. While the Scarlet and Black clad heroines of the gridiron did not pull off the win, it was not because of a lack of effort.
“Four big plays are what made the difference between winning and losing the last time we faced them,” states RJ Speidel, Vixen defensive coordinator. “We can hang with them.”
With a renewed intensity and exuberance, the Vixen hit the practice field this week after a win over the Division III Iowa Phoenix. The team will need a big day out of the “Cerberus” of running backs as Coach Matt O’Keefe has been affectionately calling his trifecta of dominant running backs in Tank Nelson, Grace Cooper, and Bella McGrath. Look for those three athletes to do what they do best, which is to get through the holes the Vixen o-line provides and move the ball.
The Vixen defense will have a tough, yet manageable, time with the Slam’s offense. When asked for her thoughts on what the defense needed to do, veteran linebacker Jodi “Moose” Rehlander said “we need to stick to our assignments and trust the players who got us here.”
Make no bones about it, this game is going to be much more than a game. It’s going to be the football equivalent of a twelve round heavyweight boxing fight. St. Louis is on their quest for a fourth Division II Championship. Despite not winning one before, the Vixen are looking to prove that they are a dominant force in women’s football. Saturday night, these two goliaths will clash and force of it will shake the very columns of Valhalla.
It’s the playoffs, baby. Ain’t nothing bigger than that.
If you cannot make it out to Saint Louis, please watch the game this Saturday at 7PM on Town Square Television or on MNVixen.com.
May 27, 2019 ·
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News
An undefeated season is a rare event for any team, and the Minnesota Vixen and St. Louis Slam knew that only one of them was walking off the field with a 0 in the loss column after Saturday’s game. In the end, the Vixen took the loss in a hard-fought contest at St. Mary’s High School’s Kresko-Miller Field.
Minnesota turned over the ball on downs on their first possession, and St. Louis capitalized on the short field, needing just two plays to go 40 yards for the game’s first score.
Minnesota punted on their next possession, but Cil Winton popped the ball out after a Slam completion and the Vixen recovered. The Vixen moved the ball across midfield but were again forced to punt, and Kaylee Neutzling ran it back 92 yards for the Slam’s second score.
The teams would trade blows for the rest of the half, but neither would be able to find the end zone, true to form for two top-ten defenses. Halftime arrived with St. Louis in the lead 14-0.
The home team struck first again in the second half, as Slam quarterback Jamie Gaal connected with Neutzling for a 53-yard score early in the third quarter, and St. Louis was in front 21-0.
The Vixen offensive engine started to churn toward the end of the third quarter behind strong running from Grace Cooper and quick edge passes that allowed Vixen receiver Kaiya Sygulla to find room after the catch. But the groans from the sideline and stands could probably be heard back home as two consecutive bad snaps inside the 10-yard line kept Minnesota scoreless.
However, Minnesota never quit fighting, and with about three minutes left in the game, Vixen quarterback Emily Evans connected with Sygulla for a 35-yard strike. Cooper’s two-point conversion made it 31-8. The final score of the game was a one-yard dive by Jeanette “Tank” Nelson with less than 10 seconds remaining. The two-point try failed.
St. Louis added a field goal and touchdown in the fourth quarter for their final total of 31 points.
Minnesota (6-1, 2-1 Division 2) now has an unscheduled bye week as the Wisconsin Dragons have forfeited the June 1 game. The Vixen will finish the regular season on the road against the Iowa Phoenix (2-4, 2-0 Division 3) on June 8. St. Louis (6-0, 1-0 Division 2) heads to Cincinnati for a game against the Sizzle (1-5, 1-3 Division 3) before hosting the Columbus (Ind.) Vanguards (5-1, 5-0 Division 3) in their season finale.
May 22, 2019 ·
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After a truly spectacular performance at home defeating the Iowa Phoenix, the undefeated Vixen head out on the road chasing their perfect season. This week’s foe? The also undefeated St. Louis Slam. This week’s battle between the two goliaths of the Women’s Football Alliance Division II American Conference opponents has major playoff implications for both teams.
The Slam have been steamrolling opponents since their return to play after a year’s hiatus. With impressive wins over the Kansas City Titans, the Derby City Dynamite, and the Iowa Phoenix. Averaging nearly 39 points per game through week 11, the Slam boast the number two offense in all of the WFA’s Division II. Scoring and gaining yards seems to be all the Slam seems to do and the Vixen defense, while being stellar this year, are going to have their hands full.
Coming off three impressive shut outs in consecutive weeks, the Vixen defense is riding high and looks to continue their success at what Vixen defensive coordinator RJ Speidel calls a “technically sound” St. Louis team. Coach Speidel knows this will be his defense’s hardest battle to date, but believes the Vixen will “slow the Slam’s roll and hopefully lead to a sixth victory”.
Veteran Vixen defensive lineman and Hall of Fame player, Cynthia “Red” Bryant says the game is going to come down to who plays better on the line of scrimmage.
“It will take another fantastic team effort to come away with a win,” says Vixen quarterbacks coach Shaun Mattson.
The Vixen offense has been working extremely hard to continue to move the ball down the field. In their barnburner against the Iowa Phoenix, the Vixen showed they can do it well.
“With all the possible respect to the Iowa Phoenix,” says Vixen wide receiver coach Jake Potter, “the Slam is a different team. We are going to need a near herculean effort out of each of our players to pull off a win in St. Louis.”
So, will the staunch Slam steamroll through Minnesota or will the voracious Vixen vex St. Louis?
There is only one way to find out, and that is to play the game this Saturday in St. Louis.
“These types of games are the reason you play football,” say the optimistic Vixen head coach Ryan McCauley. He has done a good job of making sure his Vixen look at this week’s game as just another game, but he fully understands that the winner of this game controls home field advantage through the WFA DII playoffs.
The Vixen are set to play the Slam this Saturday at 7PM local time at St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, Missouri. If you cannot attend the game in person you can tune in on Town Square Television to check out all the action.
May 19, 2019 ·
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News
Vixen continue to roll with big shutout against Iowa
by Jodi Rehlander
For the Minnesota Vixen, Saturday night’s game against the visiting Iowa Phoenix was a roll call of usual scoring suspects plus a bonus defensive pick six as the home team scored nine times on the way to a 59-0 victory at Kuhlman Field in Edina.
Grace Cooper started things off with a 9-yard run, then Emily Evans just overthrew Kate Murphy on a post. Cooper then burst through the right side for 25 yards, and a handful of plays later would score from 12 yards out, her second of the season.
Iowa’s first drive was stopped by a huge third-down sack by defensive end Jocelyn Nelson, pushing the Phoenix back to their own 12-yard line. Erin “Tilly” Tilford had a great return on the ensuing punt, but a Vixen holding penalty moved Minnesota back to the Phoenix 25.
Jeanie “Tank” Nelson, Bella McGrath and Kaiya Sygulla combined their talents to get another score for Minnesota, an 8-yard run for Nelson.
The Phoenix came out throwing on their next possession, but things went awry as Caitlin Hill intercepted the ball and threaded her way back to the end zone for a 50-yard score.
The next two times Minnesota had the ball, it was Evans and Sygulla’s turn in the spotlight, with two scores on two plays. The defense also did their part with a fumble recovery, sacks by Nelson and Chelsy Lee, and several tackles in the backfield.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for Minnesota, who faced a third-and-39 at the end of the first quarter and had trouble with PAT execution. But Connor Jo Lewis and Nelson would each score again (their third and tenth touchdowns of the year, respectively) before halftime, and the Vixen would own a 47-0 lead at the break.
In the second half, McGrath and Cooper would score for the Vixen. Minnesota’s defense faced a threat from Iowa after a long pass from Jennifer Trevillian to Shannon Christensen put the Phoenix on the Vixen 17. A pass interference call would give Iowa first and goal from the 7, but once again the Vixen did not break and kept Iowa off the scoreboard.
The Vixen (5-0, 2-0 Division 2) now hit the road to face the St. Louis Slam (5-0, 0-0 Division 2) in a Memorial Day weekend match-up that should decide home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Phoenix fall to 2-3 (2-0 Division 3) and will visit the Wisconsin Dragons (4-2, 0-2 Division 2) next Saturday.
May 15, 2019 ·
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After his team’s dominant road win over the Wisconsin Dragons, Minnesota Vixen head coach Ryan McCauley boarded the team bus already thinking about the next opponent his team has to face. “It’s tough being a head coach, it was hard to just enjoy the victory,” McCauley stated. With no bye weeks left in the season, the Vixen have five straight weeks of football with two more road trips ahead of them.
But, as has been the theme of this season, the Vixen are only taking things one week at a time. This week, the Iowa Phoenix make the trip in to see a rumbling Vixen powerhouse.
Iowa’s head coach Nancy Javaux, has led her team to a .500 season to this point. The team shows a significant amount of fight. Phoenix quarterback, Jennifer Trevillian boasts a 41.3 percent completion rate while only having one touchdown pass and five interceptions on the year–a statistic the Vixen defensive coordinator, RJ Speidel, views as going in the favour of the Vixen. Phoenix running back, Kayla Lavalais, is averaging eight yards a carry, which will be a concern for Vixen linebackers and defensive linemen.
The Vixen have set of backs that is putting up impressive numbers each and every game. Averaging over 200 yards per game on the ground, Ryan McCauley’s Vixen offense has shown they can run the ball with authority and backs like Tank Nelson dare any defense in the league to stop her. If, somehow, a defense does control Tank’s carries, they have to worry about a spry and nimble Bella McGrath and a quick and dangerous Grace Cooper.
The Vixen passing game is steadily improving, especially after Kaiya Sygulla found her way into the endzone by way of an Emily Evans pass. Vixen quarterback coach, Shaun Mattson, believes this week things will be a bit different in the passing game. “We have been working hard with Coach Potter’s receivers and getting the passing concepts down while adding some new wrinkles and stuff.”
The Vixen are set to kick off this Saturday at Kuhlman Field in Edina at 6PM. You are not going to want to miss it, but if you cannot be there, be sure to check out the live broadcast on Town Square Television.
May 13, 2019 ·
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Vixen stay undefeated with decisive victory over Dragons
by Jodi Rehlander
In the theater world, someone who can dance, act and sing well is known as a “triple threat.” The football equivalent would be a squad that proves itself on offense, defense and special teams, and that’s exactly what the Minnesota Vixen did on Saturday night with a 50-0 road win over the Wisconsin Dragons at Franklin High School’s Sullivan Field.
Minnesota’s Kaiya Sygulla returned the opening kickoff 40 yards to the Wisconsin 40-yard line, but the Vixen offense turned it over on downs deep in Dragons territory. The Dragons gained three yards on three plays and had to punt. Tilly Tilford’s return of 46 yards set the Vixen up on the Wisconsin 14-yard line. After three Grace Cooper runs up the middle and a good PAT by Kate Murphy, the Vixen led 7-0.
Wisconsin looked good on their next possession, using screen passes and read option runs to put the Vixen defense on its heels. But Minnesota toughened up in the red zone and forced a turnover on downs.
The ensuing Vixen possession saw the game’s longest offensive play, a fourth-down, 67-yard touchdown run from Jeanie “Tank” Nelson that featured her signature style of bruising stiff-arms, scorched-earth running and a trail of bodies on the ground. The Vixen led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Nelson would notch runs of 25, 5 and 7 yards on her way to an 8-yard rumble to the end zone. Then, Sygulla would score on a flat screen from 2 yards out, assisted by a 52-yard pinball catch from Errin McIsaac. The next drive featured runs from Bella McGrath and Nelson, interspersed with catches from Nelson and McIsaac, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown scamper from McGrath. The half ended with Minnesota on top 36-0.
The Vixen continued to roll in the second half, with the defense recovering a fumbled bad snap to start the third quarter, giving Minnesota the ball on the Wisconsin 31. Connor Jo Lewis took over as quarterback for the evening, and Nelson would eventually run 11 yards through the right side for her third touchdown of the night.
Cooper and Andri Vogt did the heavy lifting on the Vixen’s next offensive series, and McGrath turned in Minnesota’s final score of the night on a 1-yard jet sweep to the left side.
Wisconsin showed grit in the fourth quarter, holding the Vixen scoreless and driving deep into Minnesota territory. A defensive pass interference call put them on the 10 yard line but the Vixen defense stood tall once again and preserved the shutout.
The Vixen’s next game is May 18, when they host the Iowa Phoenix (2-2 overall, 2-0 Division 3) at Kuhlman Field in Edina. The Dragons fall to 3-2 (0-2 Division 2) and hit the road to Michigan and the Grand Rapids Tidal Waves next week.
May 8, 2019 ·
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The scarlet and black clad heroes of the Minnesota Vixen are hitting the road this Saturday. They head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to face the rival Dragons. Crossing the “Cheddar Curtain” as Vixen offensive line coach, Bruce Brevitz says, the Vixen look to continue their winning ways with another win.
The last time the Vixen met the Dragons was in Edina where the defense amassed an impressive 6 interceptions. Last Saturday, the Vixen defense shut out the talented and always threatening Kansas City Titans offense. Can RJ Speidel’s defense continue to dominate?
Offensively, the Vixen have shown to be impressive ground runners with Bella McGrath and Tank Nelson carrying the load for the team. Adding to their formidable ground assault, the Vixen welcomed the on field return of Grace Cooper. With three powerful and talented running backs in the back field and quarterbacks Emily Evans and Connor Jo Lewis, Ryan McCauley’s offense looks to be ready to dominate their way down the field behind the blocks of the offensive line.
While the Vixen only put up seven points on a tough Titans squad last week, don’t think the offense is sputtering. It is only a matter of time before powder keg of talent that is the Vixen offensive roster explodes on an unsuspecting defense.
“We should remind our team the Dragons are no pushovers,” says Vixen mascot B.A. Vixen. “They are just has hungry as we are.”
And B.A. is absolutely right. The Dragons are heading into Saturday’s home game with only one loss and having impressive wins over the Iowa Phoenix and the Grand Rapids Tidal Waves. Being a second year team, the Dragons have had their share of growing pains, however this season they are turning heads.
What will happen when these two rivals meet on the gridiron this Saturday? Will the Dragons pull off an upset over the rumbling Vixen? Will the Vixen defense continue their dominance? What will the Vixen running backs do to the turf? Is this the week we see a Vixen touchdown pass?
Find out this Saturday at Franklin High School in Franklin, Wisconsin. The game is set to kick off at 6PM local time.
Cannot travel to the game? Have no fear, thanks to our friends at Town Square Television, you can watch all our 2019 games, both home and away.
May 5, 2019 ·
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Vixen outlast KC Titans for season sweep
by Jodi Rehlander
Some games come down to a single play, and the Kansas City Titans and the Minnesota Vixen treated fans to a defensive slugfest for the ages on Saturday night at Farmington High School’s Tiger Field.
On paper, the game was a solid matchup between two evenly matched teams on both sides of the ball. Kansas City was determined to turn the tide on a winless season thus far, but Minnesota was equally focused on staying undefeated. In the end, the Vixen would come out on top with a 7-0 final score.
The Titans’ offense looked to set the pace early, slashing through the middle of Minnesota’s defense with a 13-yard run by Iliana Calderon on their first play from scrimmage. The Vixen were able to stop them from getting another first down, however, and after a line-drive punt from Liz Sowers, Minnesota started its first drive on its own 14.
The Vixen also started well, with a plucky 9-yard catch and run from Kaiya Sygulla, but good pass coverage from the Titans and a fumbled snap on subsequent downs meant Minnesota’s first drive would also end in a punt.
And so it went for most of the first two periods, with both teams showing brief flashes of brilliance, but offensive miscues and timely plays from the defense leaving each unable to establish a rhythm and convert good plays into points.
It looked like things might heat up for the Vixen just before halftime when Amanda Atkins had a nifty midfield interception and 28-yard return with less than a minute to go. But KC knocked the ball out of Vixen quarterback Emily Evans’ hands and recovered the ball on the very next play, and the halftime buzzer sounded with the squads in a 0-0 tie.
Minnesota started the second half with the ball, but turned it over on downs. Kansas City got as close as the 19-yard line but a fourth-down shoestring tackle by Caitlin Hill on a scrambling Liz Sowers just before the first-down marker kept the Titans off the board, and the punt-fest continued.
The third-quarter ended with a little momentum for the Vixen, provided by a strong interior run by Jeanie “Tank” Nelson after a facemask penalty on a Kate Murphy reception out in the flats. Minnesota started the fourth quarter with another Tank run up the left side to just inside the Titans’ 20-yard line. Two plays later, Connor Jo Lewis slipped through a backfield tackle and had just enough blocking to the right side to run to the pylon for the game’s first and only score. Katie Muller’s PAT was good and the Vixen led 7-0.
Kansas City made a strong push on the ensuing possession, getting to the Minnesota 30, but an offensive holding penalty and a third-down tackle in the backfield by Cynthia “Red” Bryant stymied their efforts. A dropped pass on fourth-down that would have moved the chains ended the possession.
Each team had one more possession and drove deep into the other’s territory, but the black curtain of the Vixen defense prevailed and Evans sealed the win in victory formation with just over a minute left in the game.
May 1, 2019 ·
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It is never easy to get back into the swing of things after a bye week in any level of football. The Women’s Football Alliance is no exception. The Minnesota Vixen look to get back to business against a tough, yet struggling, Kansas City Titans team when the two teams meet this Saturday, May 4, in Farmington.
Prior to the bye week, the rumbling Vixen walloped their rivals, the Wisconsin Dragons. In that game, Tank Nelson upped her yards per carry to an impressive 5.3 yards while taking the ball to the end zone three times. The Vixen continued to show a little difficulty in the passing game, but, thankfully for the Crimson and Black, the running game combined for a staggering five touchdowns.
It was on the other side of the ball that the Vixen showed their true strength. Collectively amassing six interceptions, including two from linebacker Connor Jo Lewis, the defense held the Dragons to a meager six points. It is also worth noting the Vixen blocked one field goal and one extra point. It was truly a spectacular day on defense for the team.
But as it has been a theme for the team this season, there is no time to rest on their laurels. Kansas City is a strong team coached by an effective staff and led by a talented quarterback in Liz Sowers. In watching Kansas City, they seem like a team just on the cusp of greatness this season but have not been able to find the right moments to shine. Perhaps this is the game for the Titans to do so, and what better way to re-ignite their fires and bounce back for the season with a road win against the Minnesota Vixen, the team that dealt them their first loss of the year?
“I have a lot of respect for the Titans, I always have” says Vixen wide receiver coach Jake Potter. “They always are a tough team to face and I look forward to seeing what they have changed since we last saw them.”
In an effort to continue to evolve and adapt to the changing league, Vixen head coach Ryan McCauley has made a few changes to his game plan that will hopefully capitalize on the extremely strong skills of the Vixen offensive line.
“It takes an extreme amount of confidence or an unhealthy dose of foolishness to not add depth to your offensive or defensive abilities during a season–especially if you see the same team a few times in a year,” says Coach Potter.
No matter what happens, it is going to be a gorgeous day for football this Saturday. Kickoff is at 6PM at Farmington High School. Please consider donating to our charity partner, Free Wheelchair Mission – https://www.classy.org/give/233441/#!/donation/checkout. And as an added treat, in celebration of “Star Wars Day” the 501st Legion will be in attendance for photos with fans! Come watch some great football and get pictures taken with your favorite “Star Wars” characters!
