Stags Match Report
The undefeated Southampton Stags faced the undefeated Staffordshire Stallions in the inaugural BUAFL Championship Game. The Stags had won the national title 2 seasons previously in a year when they had set the offensive points record and greatest final victory in college history, the 2007/2008 side had an offence just as potent and a defence that conceded only 4 touchdowns all season. They faced a Staffordshire Stallions side led by the rushing attack of #34 Ed Goka, top in rushing yards and touchdowns league-wide.
The game kicked off in clear sunshine but with a terrible crosswind that would severely limit the passing game all day. The Stags scored first after the teams had traded a few possessions when #1 Michal Katnik scampered in from 4 yards out, the extra point try from #37 Ben Webb was blocked by Stallions' #98. 6-0. The Stags defence was going a remarkable job of shutting down the Northern champions offence and were soon rewarded by recovering a fumble. The Stags then moved down towards the Stallions endzone but the conditions were against #1 Katnik whose pass, thrown off an injured shoulder found itself picked off by a Stallions DB. The Stags defence took the field and with in a play had regained possession following a fumble in the Stallions backfield.
The Stags offence then moved to the other end of the field for the change of quarter and soon after Katnik once again found the endzone, this time going in from 5 yards out. Webb managed to get the kick away but the wind forced it wide to keep the score to 12-0. The Stallions #34 Ed Goka then showed what a threat he could be with the ball in his hands as found a way around the Stags outside contain and raced down the sideline for a 42 yard touchdown run. #24 Tom “Generic” Smith broke through the Stallions field goal line to block the kick and the score was 12-6.
The Stallions kicked-off and the ball drifted way out of bounds, but the Stags, with the threat of #37 Webb and #33 Tam Amachree returning forced the re-kick. This time the Stallions kicker kept the ball in bounds and it ended up bouncing into the endzone for a touchback. The Stags started from the 20 but were soon at their own 44 as #33 Amachree ripped off a 24 yard rush on the first play of the drive, #11 Dom Olney was then given the chance to carry the ball and he cut back inside and found running space and was finally taken down in Stallions territory, on their 35. Amachree then capped the 3 play drive by breaking away for the score, outracing the Stallions defenders to the endzone. The Stags abandoned the kicking game, given the conditions, and rolling out, #1 Katnik tried to tuck the ball and go in himself but was stuffed by 3 Stallions defenders just shy of the goalline, 18-6. The Stags kicked off into the wind and the ball stalled in the air and dropped back to earth in the middle of the Stallions return team only to be recovered by the kicker himself, #4 AJ Woolley. The Stags moved the ball towards the endzone again but when Katnik went to the air, all he found was a DB as the Stallions regained possession at the 8. 2 plays later however and he had the ball back as the Stags defence forced yet another fumble, with #27 Soheil Maleki recovering it. Katnik then got his 3rd touchdown of the day as he snuck in from a yard out, #5 Kai Passler bruised his way over the line on the conversion try and the Stags led 26-6 at the half.
The second half started off slowly again with the sides trading punts until the Stags began rushing the ball effectively and were soon rewarded with another score as #5 Kai Passler found the endzone from 2 yards out, Katnik then returned the favour to Passler as he added the 2pt conversion himself to stretch the lead to 34-6. The Stags defence again stuffed the Stallions rushing attack and forced a punt. The punt was hit low to avoid the wind but was met by an oncoming Dominic Olney who caught the ball at midfield without breaking stride and headed down the sideline, after dodging one tackler he was hit out-of-bounds to gain another 15 yards and the Stags started on the 17 yard line.
Due to the heavy rushing game of the 3rd quarter the clock had moved quickly and the teams once again traded ends. #22 Chevy Green had been blocking hard for the other running backs all day and was rewarded with a few carries of his own. Having been stopped on the 1 yard line he then scored on his next attempt and then found the endzone again as he added his own 2pt conversion. 42-6. The Stags defence forced the Stallions to punt again following a 3-and-out and #37 Ben Webb returned the ball from deep in his own half all the way down to the Stallions 19. What followed was the greatest play of the game as #33 Tam Amachree received the ball on a toss-sweep to the right, he then stopped and appeared to hand the ball to #37 Webb on the reverse, Amachree stood still with his back to the defence as he watched Webb scampering off in the opposite direction, the Stallions defence began to head to the receiver before Amachree turned sharply around to head to the endzone with the ball still in his hands, he leapt over a would-be tackler, as the cornerback hadn't gone far enough with the reverse to be completely out of the play, and jogged into the endzone as the crowd and Southampton sideline went wild. 2nd string QB #7 Nic Bee failed to reach the endzone on the sneak and the score was 48-6. After a couple of penalties on the kick-off the Stallions started with the ball in midfield and went to the air in an attempt to score quicker, it paid off as #14 Ben Rowan hit the TE #98 deep downfield for a 37 yard completion. Shortly after Goka was in the endzone as he bounced his way outside for an 11 yard score. The Stallions found the endzone again with the 2pt conversion from #11 but the play was called back for holding. On the second attempt, #14 Rowan was stuffed in the backfield before he could get a pass off. The Stallions then attempted the onside kick but as the ball stopped after 8 yards both sides stopped and just looked at the ball with no-one attempting to recover it. The Stags offence then produced a half-back pass as #21 Cedric Perret stopped running on a sweep and launched the ball up for #80 Marcin Jankowski to grab for a 15 yard gain. The Stags second string failed to move the ball enough for the first down following that, and after a 4th down pass attempt was gusted out of bounds the Stags defence was called back into action. The Stags defence turned the ball over on downs but were back on the field almost immediately as the Stags rookie running backs failed to make any headway and after a missed hand-off, #7 Bee ended up shovelling the ball to a Stallions defender. Goka took full advantage of this and showed what he could do as he broke away on 63 yard touchdown run leaving the Stags defenders in his wake. Rowan found #98 on the 2pt conversion as the TE loomed over the Stags DBs with a clear foot in height over each of them. Following an onside kick recovered by #24 Smith the Stags first string hit the field again to showcase once more their dominant running game, and Amachree, Passler, Perret and Green moved the ball well until rookie #36 Jon Fowell broke away his own run, only to be tackled a yard shy of the endzone. Fowell was in the endzone on the next play though as the Stags O-Line, with #73 Sam Bennett at FB created the space for his to dart in for the score. Bennett then slipped as he headed for the endzone on the 2pt conversion attempt and the score remained 54-20. The Stallions final drive finished with an interception by #47 Nicky Cole on his own 15 yard line and after a 25 yard return the game was over and the Stags were champions.
The offensive MVP was undoubtedly #33 Tam Amachree with 27 carries for 257 yards and 2 TDs and he also collected the BUAFL MVP award for the game. The Stags receivers did well when called upon to play a blocking role almost all day and this, coupled with the dominance of the offensive line created huge spaces for all the RBs to take advantage of with 419 yards rushing combined. Katnik, although playing with a severely damaged shoulder since the conference semi-final against Bath, still managed to orchestrate the offence and collect 3 TDs of his own.
On defence the line was once again dominant with DTs #79 Dave “Odin” Bustin and #93 Mark “Olaf” Brewer collecting 5 and 4 tackles respectively (Bustin also had 2 sacks a forced fumble and a fumble recovery). DE #73 Sam Bennett got 5 tackles whilst the other end #92 Ed Butcher got 3 with 2 QB pressures and a fumble recovery. #13 Iain “Malibu” Anderson had 5 tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble from linebacker, whilst his international teammate #4 AJ Woolley collected 6 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries and a QB pressure. The defensive backs played well as a unit, playing well when called upon to support the run or to drop back and defend the pass. Despite Woolley leading the tacklers on the day and finishing the season with 80 tackles the defensive player that stepped up the most for the championship game and the defensive MVP was #79 Dave Bustin.
The defence and special teams played so well that the Stags average starting field position on offence was on the Stallions 43 yard line.
The Stags would like to thank their players, coaches and supporters for putting in so much hard work and effort throughout the year that paid off with an undefeated season and a national championship the reward.
