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Farnham Fast Lane Knights 15 London Blitz 28
The London Blitz booked their place in the Britbowl XXII
final with a convincing 28-15 victory over the Farnham Fast Lane Knights in the
BAFL Premier Semi-Finals.
Much like the two teams’ previous encounter, weather
threatened to be a factor in the game. It had rained lightly but
continuously before kick off and threatened to get heavier but when the two
teams were ready and the opening kick off was made, the rain had subsided and
the sun even attempted to shine. The sun didn’t seem to shine on the Blitz
during their first possession as the offense quickly went three and out and
were forced to punt. The Knights, eager to make amends for the loss in
the previous outing between the two teams just two weeks earlier, came out
intent to get on the scoreboard early. The drive of their first
possession following the Blitz’s punt was stopped some 15-20 yards shy of the
endzone and the Knights were forced to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Inspired by a vocal crowd and the presence of wide receiver
Rod ‘Spartan’ Bradley on the sidelines, the Blitz offense marched
downfield. Quarterback Stuart Franklin looked to air one out in the
direction of defensive back/wide receiver Aaron Sanders-Percival in stride
towards the endzone, but the pass was intercepted by a Knights
cornerback. However, the ensuing Knights possession was short
lived. Aaron Sanders-Percival, this time playing at cornerback, jumped
the route of the receiver he was lining up against to intercept the ball
cleanly and return the ball some 20 yards before being knocked out of bounds
just before the end of the first quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, quarterback Stuart
Franklin handed the ball off to his trusty running back Gareth Dauley who
evaded Knights tacklers and sped away from the Knights secondary before diving,
arms out stretched towards the pylon and into the endzone to give the Blitz
their first score. The touchdown was greatly aided by an outstanding
block by newly graduated youth wide receiver Ben Brown who was in on his first series as a
senior player. Kicker Nathan Holt converted the point after to give
the Blitz a 7-3 lead. The joy of the lead didn’t stay with the Blitz
though, as the Knights were able to find the endzone for another six points. The defense did enough to put off the Knights kicker, who missed the point
after conversion. On the ensuing kick off, Gareth Dauley showed his game
breaking running skills on special teams, as he was able to provide the Blitz
offense with excellent field position deep inside Knights territory. The
Blitz offense marched their way to the Knights goal line, the drive sputtered
there as the Blitz conceded a penalty. As a result the Blitz offense were
moved back 10 yards putting them in a third and goal situation from the 11
instead of third and goal from the 1 yard line. Veteran receiver Marcin
Lai did what he does best, coming up with big plays at key moments,
catching a Stuart Franklin’s pass on a slant route before taking the ball into
the endzone for the score. Kicker Nathan Holt added the point after to
give the Blitz a 14-9 lead. The following Knights possession came up
short, forcing them to settle for a field goal attempt. Once again the
London defense was able to apply enough pressure on the Knights kicker for him
to have his field goal attempt ruled ‘no good’ by the officials. The
score at half time was London Blitz 14 Farnham Fast Lane Knights 9.
In the second half, Talla ‘Ze French Connection’ N’Daiye
added to Farnham miseries with a touchdown reception on a screen pass before
running over to the fans in the stands and celebrating with the crowd in
attendance. Gareth Dauley secured a healthy lead that the Blitz defense
would not relinquish, with his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon. Managing the offense through the end of the game highlighted more of the
recently graduated youth players Ben Cagan at quarterback and star running back
Jermaine Henry to get their first taste of senior action. With several
more youth players; Daniel George, Iman Sharif both offensive line and Thomas
Animashaun on the defensive line, having made the jump up to senior team,
and with more to join for next year the future looks bright for Big Blue. The game’s final score: London Blitz 28, Farnham Fast Lane Knights 15.
After the game, Head Coach Mark Moss said: “This is where
we set out to be at the start of the season, to get back to the Bowl game and
retain the championship and now we have the opportunity to do that.”
Blitz Safety Ed Morgan said: “We said when we started out
this season that we weren’t going for just a play off place, we weren’t going
to win just five games after the two early season losses, we were going to the
Bowl. We’ve got two weeks of hard work now, so we’ve got to make sure we
get the job done in Doncaster.”
The London Blitz’s next and final game of the season is
against the undefeated Coventry Cassidy Jets in Britbowl XXII. The game
is scheduled to take place at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster on September 21st.
2008. Kick-off is scheduled for 4:00 pm.