It took only the first half of play for Aaron Dacus to become a fan of women’s tackle football.
Dacus, a longtime Seattle Seahawks fan from Federal Way, checked out the season-opening game for the Seattle Majestics on Saturday night at French Field in Kent and came away impressed.
“I’ll come back for another game,” said Dacus, who wore a No. 8 Matt Hasselbeck jersey to his first women’s football game. “It’s exciting. It’s football.”
A crowd of about 700 watched the Majestics crush the Corvallis Pride 34-0 in a Independent Women’s Football League game. The Majestics moved to Kent this season from Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center.
A few dozen fans showed up early for a handful of tailgate parties. Most fans arrived just before kickoff and started to fill up the two middle-seating sections at French Field, the home of Kent’s four high school football teams.
Fans were entertained before the game with a variety of taped pop, rap and rock songs. That included Katy Perry’s hit single, “I Kissed a Girl,” played just before the coin toss to determine which team kicks off.
Dacus heard about the game because he works with Seattle coach Mike Talley at a health-insurance company in Tacoma. Talley invited Dacus to come out and watch.
“I think this will be a really good team,” Dacus said after he watched the Majestics roll to a 27-0 halftime lead. “They’ll probably go undefeated.”
Dacus said he plans to bring his mother and stepfather to a game later this season. His mother owns Seahawk season tickets.
“We all like sports and it’s good to support the local community,” Dacus said.
Camille Head, co-owner of the Majestics as well as a player, said fans often react in similar fashion to Dacus after they watch women’s football.
“You come out and see one game and you start to like the team and get to know the players,” Head said. “It’s real football. It’s no joke.”
J.J. Campolo, of Federal Way, became a Majestic fan three years ago when his sister, Andreana “Campy” Campolo joined the team as a linebacker and fullback.
“I’m the most dedicated fan,” said Campolo, decked out in a Pittsburgh Steeler jacket. “The Majestics rock. They’re going to go all the way this year to the championship game. They can’t be touched.”
Campolo stood up for much of the game to cheer on his sister and the team. He held up a poster that read, “Campy can’t be stopped.” He later rolled up the poster to yell through it.
When the field lights inadvertently went out with just more than a minute left in the game, Campolo ran down to the field to talk to his sister before she told him to go back to the stands. The lights came back on after a 15-minute delay and the teams finished the game.
“That happened to us once in practice, too,” Head said about the lights going out.
The game was over for Corvallis way before the lights went out as the Majestics scored on the first play of the game. Rachel Gore ran 66 yards for a touchdown. Seattle led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.
“It started off really good the first play,” said Seattle tight end Gretchen Pietras. “We’d like them all to start like that.”
Pietras, who had a touchdown catch and scored on a fumble return, loved the fan support.
“They were really loud, which we we like,” Pietras said. “But we could always use more.”
J.J. Campolo said fans get plenty of entertainment for a $12 ticket.
“Women’s sports are coming along,” he said. “This is not just powder-puff football. These girls know what they’re doing. They lay each other out and make serious tackles. They like what they’re doing. This is sweet.”
Carmie Kowaleski, of Seattle, who played one year for the Majestics in 2006, continues to support the team by attending their games. She was impressed with how many fans turned out for the season opener in Kent compared to games in Seattle.
“It’s great,” Kowaleski said. “It was more people than I’ve ever seen at a game.”
A KIRO television cameraman shot a few game highlights in the first quarter to be shown on the 11 p.m. Saturday newscast as interest in the Majestics and women’s football continues to grow.
“It was a decent crowd tonight, we’re real happy with that,” Head said. “There was about 700 people here, so that’s real good for a home opener. That’s a couple hundred more than we were getting at Memorial Stadium. Hopefully, it will be infectious and we’ll get more butts in the seats.”
The Seattle Majestics play the Sacramento Sirens in their next home game 7 p.m. April 25.
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