Last week, the Show Stoppaz lost its first game of the season, to Schax, causing the defending women’s league champions to drop out of the No. 1 spot in the intramurals flag-football rankings.

The team wasn’t about to have a repeat of the letdown.

The former champs bounced back on Sunday to defeat newly No. 1-ranked Blackout, 38-12, in the second installment of the intramural Game of the Week at the Hawkeye Recreation Fields.

Blackout was no match for the Show Stoppaz’s relentless shutdown defense.

Senior Erin Tuken played like Hawkeye defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn, leading the Show Stoppaz pass rush with three sacks and two tackles for loss.

The squad’s stifling defense recorded a total of six sacks. Their pressure gave the Blackout signal-callers little time to throw.

“It was a great team effort from the whole defense,” Tuken said. “The pressure my other teammates were able to put on the quarterback gave me the opportunity to grab their flags and make the plays.”

The Show Stoppaz secondary was no slouch either.

Senior Amy Carlson and junior Caitlyn Josten out-performed the Blackout wide receivers, notching two interceptions apiece.

Blackout mounted a slight comeback as the first half drew to a close, but its offense struggled to consistently move the ball downfield.

The team constantly switched between junior Lisa Frauenholtz and senior Jessi Hattori at quarterback.

Frauenholtz and Hattori scored the only two touchdowns for Blackout in the final minutes of the first half, making the score 20-12 and putting Blackout back in the mix.

But Show Stoppaz stepped up in the second half, scoring on all three of its drives and putting the game completely out of reach, 38-12.

The game was ultimately called due to the slaughter rule at the two-minute warning.

Last week’s DI Intramural Athlete of the Week, Kendall Gifford, tossed five touchdown passes in the game, two apiece to senior Anna Schmitz and junior Katelyn McCunniff, and one to Josten.

Schmitz also returned a punt for a score.

“We knew they were a tough team,” Frauenholtz said of the Show Stoppaz. “They have an awesome quarterback. I guess they just played better than we were prepared for.”