Sussex Thunder travelled to Coventry on Sunday and pushed the reigning National
Champion Jets all the way in a close, hard fought encounter. The Thunder took
an early lead and held the advantage until the third quarter. Then two
touchdowns by the Jets Great Britain receiver Jeremy Simms sealed the game for
the home side.
Sussex started the game looking intent on causing an
upset, when on their first drive quarterback Eber Kington threw a 27 yard
completion to receiver Romaine Lee Jackson. The rookie, playing in only his
second game for the Crawley based side, leaping high between two defenders to
open the scoring. Chris Percival slotted over the extra point attempt to give
the Thunder a 7 point lead.
With the Jets pulling out all the stops to get back on level terms, the Thunder
defense stood firm, picking off the Jets quarterback three times and forcing
three fumbles all of which were recovered. Defensive end Anthony Morrison
(twice) and linebacker Paul Nixon both got through to register sacks as the
Thunder defense dominated in the first half.
Approaching half-time, another sustained drive by Sussex, aided by two 15 yard
penalties on the Jets defense put the visitors within scoring range, Jackson
reeled in another Kington pass for a 20 yard gain but was tackled at the Jets 2
yard line. Unfortunately, due to a combination of offensive errors by the
Thunder and strong tackling by the Jets, the visitors were unable to increase
their lead. Percival attempted a 32 yard field goal which was no good.
At the interval the Thunder still held the narrow
advantage, but the Jets could consider themselves a little fortunate not to be
two or three further scores behind. In the 3rd quarter the Jets finally began
to move the ball and a good drive took them into scoring territory before they
finally got on the scoreboard with a short run from Tony Perkins. The extra
point kick was no good and the Thunder led 7-6. The visitors were now finding
themselves under pressure with the Jets defensive unit closing them down and
consistently getting the ball back in good positions. At the end of the third
period, with the game finely balanced, Jets quarterback Franklin found some
time in the pocket and fired a precision pass to the wide open Simms in the endzone
for a 29 yard strike. Coventry went for the two point conversion, Franklin
finding Loeden, to give them the lead 14-7.
Into the final period and after exchanging possessions
the Jets again forced the Thunder to punt. Simms caught the ball on his own 34
yard line, went right, went left and then cut up field and aided by a couple of
crunching blocks, took the ball all the back for the six points. The two point
attempt was no good, and the Jets now had a lead of 20-7. That was how it
stayed until the final whistle. The Thunder fall to 0 and 4 on the season, but
this was a much improved performance from the disappointing loss to Bristol the
previous week.
The leading performances on the day for the Thunder
came from Jackson with four receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown, and on
defense, Anthony Morrison caused the much vaunted Jets potent offence untold
problems all afternoon.
The Thunder now have a three week break to re-charge
their batteries, before they start the second half of their season with a trip
to the league leaders, the unbeaten London Blitz on 12th July
