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Milton Keynes City Pathfinders 0 Cambridgeshire Cats 52
The Cats efficiently moved to a perfect 6-0 record as they
proved too strong for the Pathfinders on a sunny June lunchtime characterised
by inexplicably high winds. The conditions helped keep the heat bearable for
the players; however, the unpredictable wind played a factor contributing to 5
Cats interceptions on a day the BAFL2 SE leaders were economical with their own
possessions, losing zero turnovers except on downs.
An incessant early season schedule has been a huge factor
in the difficulties encountered by the newcomers from Milton Keynes, causing
the travelling Pathfinders to play ironman in many positions with only a small
squad available. Their opening kickoff into the wind was returned to midfield
by Ally Minto, who ran around, over and through defenders all day to give the
Cats great field positions. The Cats rookie running back then took a backseat
on the drive, as veteran Stephen “Booty” Morrison broke for 15 yards then a 22
yard score.
James Wyatt’s extra point put the Cats 7-0 up and his
kickoff pinned the Pathfinders on their own 35 thanks to patent special teams’
pursuit from second year linebacker Duncan Palmer. The Cats defense continued
it’s ruthless pursuit of a top playoff seeding allowing little gain and forcing
a punt into a wind that put the ball 42 yards from the Cats second score, which
came instantly as quarterback Durkin found Joe Slaughter over the top for the
receivers fifth touchdown reception of the year. Wyatt again made the point
after and his booming touchback from the ensuing kickoff pinned the Pathfinders
on their 20. Milton Keynes took to the air in attempt to find breathing space,
but the wind combined with Cats all time leading interceptor Nate Ashby
suffocated this assertion as he rose to pick off a pass to the sideline. Tight
end Tony Reveglia found himself in the backfield for the first time in over a
year and made good ground as he moved the chains, which again set up the arm of
Durkin. Inspired by last Sundays Player of the Week nomination from Blueraider
based brother Matt, Cats wide receiver Jonathan Smith hauled in his fifth score
of the year with a beautiful diving grab in the endzone. The veterans’ sixty
fifth career receiving touchdown for the Cats makes him the all time leader in
this category, an achievement that earned him the customary post game soaking.
The ensuing kick was blocked and the Cats led 20-0 as a Kocherhans interception
regained the Cats possession at the end of the quarter.
After looking unstoppable with the wind, the Cats found
the conditions to be the 12 man on the Pathfinder defense during the second
period, and not wanting to chance a field goal into the elements ended up
turning the ball over on downs at the Pathfinders 5 yard line. Milton Keynes
were unable to find any chinks in the Cats defensive armour and were forced to
punt, however a booming 72 yarder over the returners head seemed to have the
Cats on their heels. Minto again showed his determined running technique and
improvised a long return to his opponents 34. Durkin once again found the
consistent Slaughter who turned up field to gain the extra yardage and score
his second of the half; effectively ending his days work with 3 catches for 74
yards.
Whilst the offense had slowed its early scoring spurt in
the first half, the defense got the ball rolling immediately in the second half
as Ashby recorded his first ever “pick”, returning an interception to the
endzone for the first time after 25 unsuccessful attempts. Another blocked kick
left the Cats 32 points clear. The next Milton Keynes possession ended abruptly
as Kocherhans recovered a fumble, Booty advanced the drive to the red zone when
this time he allowed his young colleague Minto to have the honours as Minto
forced a passage through the Pathfinders to score from 8 yards. Wyatt’s kick
was good and another interception, this time from safety Louis Cooke gave the
hosts the ball at midfield as they went into the final period 39-0 ahead.
The fourth quarter saw the Cats take an immediate 45-0
lead as Booty rounded off a fine day with a 13 yard score, his second touchdown
giving him 139 yards from his 9 carries. Deep into the rotation the Cats
offense slowed as players were given chances to prove their compatibility in
various roles. This led to a slightly disjointed end to the game until Cats
defensive back Romain Beretti got the Cats fifth interception of the day
returning the ball from midfield to the red zone. Capping off the strong day
for the veterans amongst the Cats, Defensive Co-ordinator Sean Gray took to the
backfield and whilst everyone present expected the big back to run up the
middle, Gray instead dashed to the corner for an 8 yard scoring rush. Wyatt
notched the conversion to end the scoring as the Cats ran out comprehensive
winners at 52-0.
Despite the huge score line and an uphill struggle so far
this year; the Pathfinders remained proud and honourable to the end. Notably
sticking to the task and not giving up even on the broken plays and special
team returns in which many Cats players, hoping for touchdown glory, would be
stopped by gutsy last-ditch tackles when lesser sides would have given up on
plays. It is this spirit that the Pathfinders will hope to build on for the
remainder of the season, as the Britball community will hope they can
consolidate their status with continued improvements into next season.
The shut out victory gives the Cats the opportunity for
high seeding in the BAFL 2 Southern section of the playoffs, which along with
the opportunity to field players in various positions most pleased Cats Head
Coach Rick Bice: “We had a great day for both our veterans and our rookies. We
were able to give both considerable playing time in different positions so that
all of them could gain greater experience for what lies ahead of us. However, I
must mention a few big performances from today. First off, both lines were
outstanding and were the key to victory! Offensively, Booty and Alley were
phenomenal runners today. As always, John Smith and his back of the endzone
tiptoe catch, who has also really
Cats Defensive Coordinator added, “The chance to try
different players in different positions to gain experience will only make us
stronger on both sides of the ball. In the end, it worked very well and we were
exceptionally pleased with our defense line who ended up having most of the
tackles on the day, spearheaded by rookie defensive tackle Sam Nti who received
his second Defensive MVP award. Many of our players did very well but it was a
good day for our rookies and back-ups! It will be a
head ache for us when
picking starters for a game, but it is great having that talent in depth!”