'Saturday Night Lights' for the Rams
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The Stoke based team were fielding a large number of raw
talent for the encounter, but the Rams know from old that to underestimate the
Surge is as big an error you can make in British American Football. Although the
Yorkshire outfit had recorded a double against Staffs the previous year, both
games had turned out very close encounters, with the fixture in the Midlands
the closest of the close - only being sealed in the dying 30 seconds with a
fumble recovery for almost the length of the entire field.
The large and enthusiastic home crowd were buoyed by the
return of Rams favourites including Andy Green at quarterback, defensive line
trio Paul Muscroft, Lee Morton and Phil Keeling fresh from their retirement
U-Turn, new BAFL transfer signings including Ben Barker, Huw Morgan and Rich
Marshall and the injection of fresh players to the league like Adam Hepworth,
Brad Perigo and SHU's David Saul.
As the trumpet sounded "Charge", the Rams
cheerleaders led the baying crowd in encouragement to chase down the ball and
make the play and it wasn't long before the Yorkshiremen in black and gold
wrestled possession away from their scarlet clad opponents. As one, the huge
interior line of the Rams defense tore away at the heart of the plucky Surge
line, but the ball was soon sent back into the hands of the home team due to
pressure from a pairing that look like they have played together for years,
never mind this only being their second game together. Paul Muscroft and Rich
Marshall were to announce their arrival as teammates in Leeds with style, by
terrorising the Staffordshire offense all night and recording incredible
statistics of 10 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery for
the Rams.
As the Rams offense took over, they started to march
downfield with purpose and intent, marking a pattern that would see them score
from 6 of 8 possessions on the night and also see a record breaking performance
for one Rams legend.
The first quarter yielded a third of those six scores and
also two of the three touchdowns of the for veteran running back Justin Lester,
a man who is clearly on a mission to prove he was not just a one season wonder
back in 2002, the year of the Rams only ever Bowl appearance. Lester has
clearly been focused on his strength and conditioning in the off season and
that extra power and speed saw him leaving grasping defenders in his wake and
carrying tacklers across the line of scrimmage all night. He punched it in from
one and ten yards in the first 15 minutes to stun the men in red, but it only
stunned them into a response.
So with Yorkshire 14 points to the good, due also to two
successful conversions by new kicker Mark Steele, the Staffordshire Surge took
control of the ball and the game clock in the second quarter. It saw them
dominate possession and also saw the emergence of two new names in British
football and the return of two names that defenses have feared throughout their
long and fruitful careers. For many people Large to Charles is as familiar a
combination there has ever been in British football and this game saw no change
there.
Backing the veteran Surge quarterback Richard Large into a
corner is a mistake and he lashed out as only he knew how, by using his wits
and utilising his vast knowledge of the game to take the momentum entirely away
from the Rams and marching his team, by hook, by crook, by Charles and by
rookie tight end Neil Jackson and by running back sensation Carl Simpson up the
field. In the dying embers of the half it was Large himself, larger than life,
who punched it home for six on a quarterback dive up the middle that could not
be stopped, even by this big, aggressive Rams defensive line.
So the ball was raised in the air and the first half was
brought to a close by the zebras, 14 - 6 to Yorkshire, but the restart was to
see Justin Lester race his way into the Rams history books, and also see Rams
rookies make their mark.
Rams productivity hit an all time high in the third
quarter as the black and gold received the ball from the kick off and picked
their way up field to the Surge's 34 yard line, as the clouds were expelled
into the night sky from the burning lungs of the trench fighters, those who
knew of Eric Bell's record of 31 all time regular season rushing touchdowns for
the Rams were merely waiting for the new star to break the record and so the
ball was handed off to Lester, who plucked his way through the line with speed
and precision and broke into the secondary, shedding potential tacklers as he
went. 34 yards saw him wrestle the first of the many rushing records held by
Justin's hero and future Rams Hall of Famer, Eric Bell, and surely not the
last.
Two quick changes of possession and two quick scores for
Yorkshire, with quickly improving quarterback Andy Green completing with a 2
yard pass to tight end Andy Durkin and then hitting new signing Ben Barker for
a 28 yard completion the scoreboard was spinning to 35 - 6 once point after
kicks were sent sailing through from Mark Steele on all three occasions.
New signing Ben Barker runs in a touchdown.
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The Game MVPs were announced to a packed Rams VIP bar,
high in the main stand overlooking their former field of conflict. It was
fitting that these tired and weary foes should rub shoulders one last time to
acknowledge the contributions made on the night. For the Rams, perm any one of
forty players - not mentioned so far on the defense were Andy Ingham, Matt
Harkin and Randy Price in the Rams secondary, Joe Coultate and Rob Kent stood
out at level two. On the offensive side of the ball, Graham Thomson was
outstanding, Andy Durkin and Ben Barker weighed in with solid stats and the
offensive line of the Rams were solid as a rock. As it was, the award went to
new signing, Rich Marshall at defensive tackle. A person who is making his mark
with his playing colleagues, coaches, management and fans - thanks, in the most
part, to his personality and his remarkable work ethic in training and on game
day.
For the Surge, it was the ubiquitous Richard Large who
took away the MVP on the night, but it could have been any of the Staffordshire
lads who fought hard and fair to make this a contest right to the very end. As
clichéd as it sounds, they were a force throughout the entire 60 minutes and
the work of John Farmiloe and the Surge management and coaches have uncovered a
crop of outstanding talent to take them forward with purpose.
Statistics leaders for the game were:
Offense.
A. Green 21 attempts, 11 completions, 223 yards, 3
touchdowns
A. Durkin 4 receptions, 80 yards, 1 touchdown
B. Barker 3 receptions, 70 yards, 1 touchdown
J. Lester 5 rush, 71 yards, 3 touchdowns *Now all time
leader for rushing td's in regular season with 32
M. Steele 6 of 6 on point after attempts
Defense.
P. Muscroft 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble.
M. Harkin 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble.
J. Coultate 6 tackles.
R. Marshall 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery.
P.Keeling 7 tackle assists.
Next Sunday, the 4th of May, Collett Transport and the
Yorkshire Rams are proud to present the return of the Redditch Arrows to take
on the Rams in South Leeds. Kick off is at 2.30pm and entry fees are £3 for
adults and £1 for under 16s
Photos courtesy of www.gallowayphotography.co.uk