May 2011 - Inside American Football 1

MATCH REPORTS
Hurricanes Bow Out in National Semi-Finals
April 2011
Hurricanes 35 - 36 Lions
The Hertfordshire Hurricanes tasted
their only defeat of the season in
a thrilling 42-37 defeat at home to
reigning champions the Birmingham
Lions.
Cut down by mistakes and bad luck
in the first half, the Hurricanes began
the second half facing a 29 – 6 deficit
against one of the greatest all time
British University American Football
teams. However, by the middle of
the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes had
fought a magnificent battle to go into
the lead 36 – 37. With four minutes
to go, the ‘Canes had possession
and great field position against an
exhausted and demoralised Lions
team.
However, one of the game changers
that make American Football so
unpredictable took place in the form of
a superb interception by Birmingham,
who took advantage of the turnover
to drive the ball into the Hertfordshire
endzone in an intense and suspense
filled offensive series. With only a
minute to respond, Hertfordshire tried
again and again to find a deep pass to
retake the lead, but with no success.
The game began in very different
fashion. With clouds overhead, and
the expected crowd yet to appear,
Hertfordshire got off to a nightmare
start. Birmingham’s quarterback put
a pass out into the flat, a seemingly
dreadful mistake as his target receiver
was covered by two Hurricanes
players. Unbelievably though, the
ball first passed straight through the
outside-backer’s hands, and as the
corner lunged for the spinning ball, it
dropped perfectly into the hands of the
Birmingham wide-out, who can’t have
even seen it. With the ball in his hands
and his two defenders on the deck
behind him, the receiver strolled into
the endzone with a bemused smile on
his face as stunned shock swept over
the Hurricanes’ sideline.
The initial nightmare was not over
yet though, as on the next Hurricane’s
possession, forced to punt from their
own goal area, gave away their first
over-thrown long-snap of the year, as
44 Inside American Football - May 2011
it flew out of the back of their endzone
for a safety score. Birmingham had
been effectively handed a 9 – 0 head
start.
As the crowd and Sun appeared,
Hertfordshire’s form continued to
elude them, as their offense failed to
get into a rhythm and their defense
seemed incapable of containing
Birmingham runningback Dan Conroy.
Finally putting points on the board
at the end of the first half, making it
21 – 6, Hertfordshire looked to keep
Birmingham out until the end of the
half, a seemingly easy task considering
the poor field position and lack of
time they had available. However,
Birmingham’s quarterback Jonny
Glover - filling in for the injured twotime
League MVP Tristan Varney –
lead his team in an excellent drive to
take another score and end the half.
Never to be disheartened,
Hertfordshire picked themselves up
at half-time, and came out of the
blocks blazing. Receiving the kick off,