Wolverines fall prey to dominant Hawks in British title decider - and Tigers also show their teeth
The Clyde Valley Hawks were crowned British youth champions last weekend as they stretched their unbeaten run to TWO YEARS
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And in the BYAFA Plate Game, there was double Scottish success with the Glasgow Tigers defeating the Wessex Stallions 6-0.
The Scottish champion Hawks eventually ran out comfortable winners in BYAFA Bowl XV, although things were not as easy as the score line suggested at first.
The Hawks, trying to establish their powerhouse running game through Lee Nelson were forced back inside their own ten through a series of holding and false start calls.
Eventually they worked the ball to their own twenty-eight before the Wolverines Phil Gough dropped onto a fumble to five the Lancashire side excellent field position. Unable to punch the ball home, and facing third and nine, the Wolverines went to the air only for Clyde Valley's Andrew Reynolds to snare the first of his four interceptions of the day, which led to him being named MVP.
Still, the Hawks failed to move the ball with any purpose thanks to a swarming Wolverines defense and nerves on their own part. Kristian Laurikietis, in particular, was outstanding as he seemed to be everywhere stifling the Hawks and earning himself the MVP honours for the Wolverines. Forced to punt, Clyde's Lee Nelson failed to gather in a poor snap and Chris Littler recovered the ball for the Men in Black on the Hawks three-yard line.
Four plays later yet another fumble ended the drive on the Hawks' one-yard line. Three plays later Clyde Valley returned the favour, coughing up the ball on their own nine and allowing Jonathan Cringle to flop on the ball for the Wolverines. Still the Hawks' held firm with Gary Orr, Tom Chapman and Alisdair Longford putting in some fierce tackles.
As the quarter expired, Sam Fogg returned a Hawks' punt to their twenty-one yard line as the Wolverines continued to have the better of the field position exchanges.
Clyde Valley began the second period camped on their own one yard line, and by midway through the quarter had still not made it into Lancashire's half of the field. However with the Wolverine's offense stalling once more, Tom Chapman blocked the punt with the ball spinning up into the grateful arms of Longford who reached the Wolverine twenty-one before being hauled down. Two plays later McKenzie hit Gary Orr in the back of the end zone from twenty yards to open the scoring. Chapman kicked the two extra points to give the Hawks an 8 - 0 advantage.
The Longford, Chapman punt blocking combination worked again on the Wolverine's next drive, with Longford blocking the kick and Chapman diving onto the ball in the end zone to extend the lead. With his normal sure boot Chapman edged the Hawks' out to 16 - 0.
The Wolverines fared little better on their next drive, when forced to punt again from close to their goal line, the snap sailed yards over Matthew Lord's head and out the back of the field to add a further two points to the Hawks tally.
With the half coming to a close Craig McMillan dashed in from four yards out, allowing Chapman to boot the extra points and give the Hawks a remarkable 26 - 0 lead.
Reynolds collected his second pick of the afternoon to stifle any rapid Wolverine revival and Lee Nelson took advantage of the situation by scampering twenty yards untouched up the middle to pay dirt. A poor snap for the extra points try limited the score to 32 - 0.
Still the comedy of errors continued. Longford recovered a strangest pitch out seen in many a long year only for the Hawks to snap the ball and leave it still on the ground for the Wolverines to recover. Reynolds then capitalised on yet another mistake as he stood alone and waited for a wayward pass to fall into his hands before speeding thirty-five yards down the sideline to move the Hawks into a 38 - 0 lead by the end of the third. The Lancashire side would still not lie down, and Sam Fogg took a reverse on the Hawks twelve and gambolled his way into the end zone to reduce the arrears to 38 - 6.
The rally continued briefly as the Wolverines recovered the on side kick and but for a last gasp fingertip bat down by Gary Orr the Wolverines may well have added to their score. Lee Nelson completed the Hawks scoring with a fifty-two yard dash off left tackle and complete 136 yards on his 14 carries.
The ensuing kick was blocked but rolled back into end zone for Garry Orr to smother for the two and complete a strange afternoon's scoring.
BYAFA Plate
Glasgow Tigers 6 v 0 Wessex Stallions
This game was a lot more open than the score line suggests, with both sides moving the ball well. Although defenses were dominant initially - Ryan Hunter of the Tigers was particularly outstanding - there was a fresh and open approach to the game.
The Stallions eventually worked their way down field behind the strong running of MVP James McIlroy. A pass to Gee and a swing pass to McIlroy, plus a further two runs from McIlroy had Wessex down to the Tigers nine yard line only for McLauchlan to pick of the intended scoring strike.
The Glasgow side tremendous self-belief by going for it on fourth down on their own eleven yard line and with Tigers quarterback Craig Wilson taking to the air with strikes of twenty yards and twenty-four to Wilson and Russell the game was hardly dull. However, as the first period ended the Tigers stalled on the Wessex nineteen.
The second quarter still saw the Stallions stick to their ground game behind Ben Flood Page and James McIlroy and the former dropped a certain score when he let an easy chance slip through his fingers.
Both sides continued to mount small drives but were eventually forced to punt but the Tigers always seemed to have a slight edge. They fumbled the ball away on the halfway line to end one drive and Wilson was intercepted on the Stallions' eighteen to halt another as the game remained scoreless at the half.
The Tigers continued to have the better of the exchanges in the third, sacking the Wessex quarterback on successive plays and returning the punt to the three-yard line but still failing to score. Finally the Glasgow side got their reward when Wessex fumbled on their own goal line and David Thompson picked up to score the only touchdown of the game.
As the game moved into the fourth the Stallions still continued to move the ball but could never breach a Tigers bend but not break defense.
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22 Oct, 03 | 11:47 am