1 October 2010 - Inside American Football

Jets Youth hit a second loss
Coventry Jets Youth @ Birmingham Bulls Youth
18th July 2010
Adam Biggs and his Coventry Jets
youth team fell to a second straight
loss in their debut season. The Jets
won their first ever competitive game
at home to the Birmingham Bulls
in a memorable game in early May
but couldn’t repeat the trick on their
travels suffering a 24-19 defeat, the
first time the Bulls had beaten the Jets
at any level.
The Jets travelled to Birmingham
minus several key players. Both
starting defensive ends; Ollie Ryan
and Rueshelle Ferguson were absent
alongside cornerbacks Liam Flinn
and Danny Battley, linebackers Jack
Fuller and Perry Hill, wide receiver
Alex Preece and perhaps most tellingly
Matt Gough. The hero of their first
encounter, it was Gough’s touchdown
saving tackle that capped the Jets
memorable debut and in his absence
Coventry found it difficult to sustain
any first half momentum, trailing 8-3
at the break.
Elliot Strong had opened the scoring
for the Jets with a 20 yard field goal
after the Coventry’s offense struggled
to convert on 3rd down. The Bulls
responded in the 2nd quarter, pounding
the ball in on the ground following an
interception from Jets quarterback Joe
Brammer. The second half got off to a
great start for the Jets, as running back
Sean Hanlon took a reverse in from 60
yards. Hanlon was the Jets most potent
offensive weapon on the day, scoring
twice and becoming the clubs first ever
100 yard rusher.
Finding themselves trailing once more,
Birmingham again began to pound
the ball for some tough yards on the
ground. Taking advantage of their
superior size the Bulls were able to
drive the ball home to regain the lead
at 16-11. Hanlon gained more key
yardage on the ground supported by
some tough running from Brammer
who also used his arm to great effect.
Hanlon scored his second touchdown
of the game, assisted brilliantly by a
crunching block from wide receiver
Johnny Muanza. Strong converted
the point after kick to hand his side
a 19-16 mid way through the 4th
quarter.
Strong couldn’t convert a 27 yard
field goal to add to his earlier effort
handing the ball back to the Bulls
at their own 20 yard line. The hosts
stayed with their ground game
although the clock was working
against them. The gutsy decision
paid dividends though as they were
able to force their way into the
Jets’ endzone for a game winning
score. Trailing 24-19 with just
under a minute on the clock the Jets
looked to the air to move the ball
down field but Brammer’s second
interception cut the comeback
attempt short
Head coach Adam Biggs said
“We just didn’t execute today.
Offensively, we have showed that
we can move the ball along the
ground and through the air against
any team we have come up against
#19 ed tAte in ACtion For tHe Jets lAst yeAr.
PHoto © miCHelle bridges
MATCH REPORTS
this year; we just need to be more
consistent though. Defensively we
were missing some key players but
we had chances to stop Birmingham’s
running game and seal the victory.
Full credit to the Bulls though, they
showed, again, that they play to the
final whistle and maybe wanted it a
little more than we did on the day.”
“There are always positives to take
out of a loss, the offensive line looked
good and we had our best rushing
game of the year. Sean Hanlon was
superb, going for two touchdowns and
breaking the 100 yard mark rushing
as well as a 20 yard reception and
80 yards on special teams, that’s not
to mention the five tackles he had
on defence as well. We had a couple
debutantes today who were excellent
and if we can get everyone fit, then
there is no reason why we can’t have a
squad of close to 30 for our remaining
games. This is a very young team and
we only lose one player to the senior
squad next season so we’re in great
shape for a strong push next year. This
year was always about building for
2011 and we’re well on course for a
big season, of course we’ll be looking
for a few victories before the end of
the year too.”
... Coventry Jets
October 2010 - Inside American Football
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