Quarterback Allyson Hamlin with championship trophy (photo courtesy of D.C. Divas)
For the second time in their team history, the D.C. Divas women’s football team ended their season as the 2015 WFA national champions. The Divas held off the Dallas Elite, 30-26 to bring the trophy back home to Washington, D.C.
Kenyetta Grigsby rushed for two of the Divas’ four first-half touchdowns, and the powerful D.C. defense held the explosive Dallas offense to less than half of their season scoring average. Ashley Whisonant was a standout performer for the Divas in all three phases of the game and took home MVP honors for her efforts.
At halftime, the Women’s Football Alliance handed out their top league awards, and the Divas had two major recipients. Linebacker Tia Watkins was named the National Conference Defensive Player of the Year, while Divas head coach Alison Fischer earned the WFA Coach of the Year Award for leading the Divas to an undefeated regular season and a conference title for the first time in her coaching career.
Since winning the championship in 2006, the Divas suffered a number of devastating postseason setbacks: an upset playoff loss to Atlanta in 2007, a controversial, penalty-laden loss in the 2009 national championship game, and five consecutive playoff losses to their archrivals from Boston. But for the first time in nine years, the team has returned to the top of the women’s football world.
