In their opening game of The World Games 2025, Great Britain Women defeated Italy 26-13 at Chengdu No. 7 High School.
British quarterback Jessica Allen threw two touchdown passes on her Great Britain debut, both to receiver Emily Kemp, with Kemp and teammate Hannah Elliott adding two more scores on the ground.
The Lions started slowly, unable to get a first down on their opening drive as Italy found the end-zone through wide receiver Giada Zocca to go one score up.
While initially falling foul of unforced errors, the Great Britain offense found its spark through a dramatic juggling catch by Marta Mathews, hauling in a deep fourth down pass from Allen to put the Lions in dangerous territory.
Elliott quickly turned the drive into points, reaching into the endzone from a handoff to put six on the board. Allen then recorded her first points for Great Britain, finding Kemp who pulled in the extra-point with one hand.
With numbers on the board, Allen and the British offense’s confidence grew in the first half, marching down the field with passes to Mathews and GB veteran Phoebe Schecter. A five yard touchdown pass from Allen to Kemp gave Great Britain their first lead of the game, and took them into the half up 13-7.
Italy came out of the break strong, making their way to the one yard line before scoring on a short pop pass again to Zocca. A missed extra point kept the score at 13-13 and put the ball back in the Lions court.
It was once again Mathews who gave Great Britain the impetus. Following a turnover on downs, the Italians came out with the football and on fourth down, Mathews reached to intercept the pass and return the ball to the seven yard line. Kemp showed her versatility taking the handoff from Allen and extending across the goal-line for six more points.
With five minutes left in the game, Allen turned things up a notch and uncorked a 30 yard pass downfield to Kemp who duly ran the ball in for her third and the Lions final touchdown of the day. Kemp was on the receiving end of the subsequent extra point to give Great Britain a 26-13 lead.
The final two minutes of the game saw special moments for two other British debutants; Jochebed Frimpong using her speed and reach to record a debut sack of the Italian quarterback, and Laura Carter pulling in a 37 yard reception from Allen in the closing moments.
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The Lions go again tomorrow as they face Japan and Mexico in their final two Group B fixtures.
Game Two: Great Britain vs. Japan
Friday 15 August – 09:00 CST / 02:00 BST
Game Three: Great Britain vs. Mexico
Friday 15 August – 15:40 CST / 08:40 BST
Watch live at live.theworldgames.org