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Cubs Set Roster For Opener (10 February 2010)
The Cubs have named a 40 man roster for their 2010 Gridiron NSW Colts season opener against the Bondi Storm. The game will be a re-match of last year's Championship Game, won by the Cubs 48-44 in a thriller. However, much will have changed for both clubs. Bondi will be looking for a fresh start after losing their coach and core players to the newly formed UTS Spartans. Meanwhile, Sydney Uni will have a fresh look, with 24 first year players on the list and a new game jersey for 2010.
On offence, the Cubs will be guided at quarterback by returning senior Sam Darcy (#84). Darcy had a bumper year in 2009, winning the Championship Game MVP award and being honoured with State and National team selection. Darcy will be looking to cap off his stellar career at the Cubs with a repeat Colts championship. Darcy will be backed up at quarterback by freshman Krishan Dass (#6).
Also returning to the offensive backfield will be the versatile Harry Granger (#5). Granger was second in scoring for the Cubs in 2009 with 104 points (15 TDs, 7 2pts) and is likely to split time at running back, wingback and also quarterback. Joining him in the backfield will be second year junior Francis O'Neill (#38), first year senior Brady Olsson (#32) and first year sophomore Jacob Stevens (#30).
The receiving unit will be lead by returning senior Alex Klaric (#82) and second year junior Max Granger (#39). This will be Klaric's fifth season for the Cubs, having started with the club as a 14 year old in 2006. Klaric and Granger are likely to see action at both wingback and receiver. The receiving corps will include second year juniors Judd Fitzsimon (#34) and Tyrone Williams (#88) and four first year players, senior Vlad Matovic (#13), junior Richard Taylor (#85), sophomore Warwick Tomkins (#9) and freshman Oscar Mason (#2).
On the offensive line, the Cubs will be boosted by the return of junior Oscar Heidrich (#94). Heidrich won State selection in his first year of football last year and will be looking to build on his strong start. Heidrich will be joined by a strong group of first year players: seniors Jack Horgan (#97) and Trung Tran (#52), and juniors Angus Bishop (#58), Kendall Generoso (#60), Elvis Trompf (#67) and Alexander Panebianco (#77). Bishop follows his brother, Mathew, into the ranks of the Cubs.
On the other side of the ball, the Cubs will be spearheaded on the line by National team member Daniel Pearson (#55). Pearson is sure to pressure the opposing backfield, and will be joined in the attack by returning sophomores Alex Astafiev (#15) and Elliot Mills-Connoly (#37) and four first year players: seniors Jack Danielson (#74) and Jonathan Vavouris (#17), sophomore Hieu Nguyen (#91) and freshman Reuben Brien-Arnold (#99).
The Cubs welcome back junior Cameron Prentice (#42) and sophomore Andrew Shattuck (#31) to the linebacker corps. These players will be joined by first year seniors Nabeel Siddiqui (#21) and Hau Neo (#26) and first year sophomores Kevin Dizon (#24) and RJ Funtanilla (#47). All of these players have a great opportunity to step up this year, with none of the starting linebackers returning from 2009.
In the secondary, Chevy Abraham-Jacob (#14) is the lone returner from the 2009 squad, although senior Stanley Chin (#22) returns from the 2008 roster after a year's absence. This pair will lead a strong posse of first year seniors in Justin Chow (#8), Tim Zhong (#10) and David Chau (#12).
The full 2010 Cubs roster has been posted to the "Roster" link on the Cubs page.
The Cubs open the 2010 season against the Bondi Storm at the St George Hockey Centre, Mutch Ave, Kyeemagh, on Friday, 19 February 2010, kick-off at 7.00pm.
Cubs Blow Away Storm (19 February 2010)
Sydney Uni kicked off 2010 in style, blowing away the Bondi Storm 72-8 at the St George Hockey Centre in the season opener on Friday night. In the process, the Cubs registered the highest score (72 points) and largest winning margin (64 points) in their 17 year history, topping their previous best of 58-0 against the Northwestern Predators in 2006.
While the game was nominally a re-match of last season's grandfinal, off-season departures meant that the Storm were fielding a completely new side for 2010.
The Cubs got on top early and did not let up. The defence shut down Bondi's opening possession within the first set of downs, the starting front five of Daniel Pearson, Jack Danielson, Hau Neo, Cameron Prentice and Andrew Shattuck overpowering the Storm's running game. The defence secured a turnover at midfield after Bondi failed on a fourth down conversion attempt.
The offence took over and drove in for a score on its first possession. Sam Darcy led the offence with poise, dishing out a pitch to running back Francis O'Neill to score his first ever touchdown for the Cubs. O'Neill would lead the Cubs in scoring on the night with three rushing touchdowns, a fitting reward for a player who stuck by the game last year despite having to sit out the season with a broken leg.
The pattern established by the opening drives continued for most of the match. The defence controlled the Storm's running game, with first year linebacker Hau Neo making a strong debut for the Cubs. Neo showed sound technique and good hustle to make a number of key stops against the run. A number of other players also got in on the act, with Daniel Pearson, Reuben Brien-Arnold and Nabeel Siddiqui all recording important tackles for loss to put the Storm into long yardage situations. Once forced into long yardage, the Storm quarterback found that his receivers were well covered by the Cubs' secondary of Chevy Abraham-Jacob, Stanley Chin, Justin Chow, Tim Zhong and David Chow. Stanley Chin made an important pass break-up and picked off an interception late in the first half while Justin Chow forced and then recovered a fumble after one of the few completions to the Storm receivers. The defence were unlucky not to be rewarded for their strong showing with 6 points, middle linebacker Cameron Prentice holding a tipped pass over the middle and returning it up the sideline and into the endzone, only for a blocking penalty on the return to negate the score.
The offence scored on every possession. The offensive line laid a solid platform. Oscar Heidrich, Alexander Panebianco, Angus Bishop, Kendall Generoso, Elvis Trompf and Jack Horgan rotated onto the offensive line without missing a beat. The line can be seen opening the way for first year running back Brady Olsson to score on a two point conversion attempt. The Cubs running game was unstoppable, with Francis O'Neill (3), Harry Granger (2), Brady Olsson and Sam Darcy all rushing for touchdowns. The Cubs also showed their class through the air, Darcy hitting Max Granger with a long range touchdown with only seconds remaining in the first half and combining with Alex Klaric from short range for a couple of 2 point conversions. A measure of the dominance of the Cubs is that they succeeded on every one of their 9 two point conversion attempts. Mention must also be made of freshman quarterback Krishan Dass, who showed great poise to complete his first two career pass attempts for 2 point conversions.
The Cubs also had a good night on special teams, with Brady Olsson taking his first career kick-off return back for a touchdown and Max Granger and the kick-off coverage unit holding the Storm to minimal yards. Tyrone Williams contributed a number of key tackles on kick-off coverage and grabbed his first points as a Cub with a tough, low catch from Dass on a late two point conversion.
Scoring statistics from the game have been linked to the "Statistics" link on the Cubs page. The other results from round 1 and the league table have been posted to the "Gridiron NSW Colts Table & Results" link on the Cubs page.
The Cubs next face the UTS Titans at the St George Hockey Centre, Mutch Ave, Kyeemagh, on Friday, 26 February 2010, kick-off at 8.30pm. The game shapes up as an early match-up of two teams likely to feature in the playoffs this year. The Cubs will be looking to carry some momentum out of their opening win and establish a strong position at the top of the table.
Titans Hold Off Cubs (26 February 2010)
The Cubs were held out on a last ditch drive to fall 18-16 to the Titans at the St George Hockey Centre on Friday night. The Titans made the key plays when it mattered at the end to earn the win.
The Cubs received the opening kick-off and almost took it back for a score, Brady Olsson being brought down by the last defender with the line beckoning. Sydney Uni drove into scoring range but failed to capitalise, turning the ball over with a fumble on a shotgun snap. The Titans then seized the initiative, driving the length of the field for an opening score. Playing out of a three receiver set, the Titans ran off the coverage and found room for their quarterback to scramble for yardage. Andrew Shattuck was unlucky not to bring in an interception on the drive, after pouncing on a seam pass thrown for a receiver out of the backfield. But after driving to within 25 yards of the endzone, the Titans ran a jet sweep and caught out the containment of the Cubs defence, the receiver skirting up the sideline and in for a touchdown. The Cubs defence regathered to hold out the 2 point conversion attempt to keep the score to 0-6, Cameron Prentice and Jack Danielson making the tackle.
The Cubs then rebounded to take the lead on a touchdown run by quarterback Sam Darcy. Darcy settled the offence back into the groove, directing the option attack smoothly down the field and in for a score. Darcy found wingback Harry Granger in the flats with a smart completion to get the ball down close and then kept the ball on an option play for the score. Darcy doubled up on the 2 point conversion to put the Cubs into the lead at 8-6.
The ensuing Cubs kick-off struck the front row of the return team and was gathered in and returned to mid-field. This put the Cubs defence under immediate pressure, but they responded by driving the Titans backwards on the series. Cameron Prentice and Andrew Shattuck combined to tie up the Titans' quarterback on the run and pressure from Jack Danielson, Daniel Pearson and Hau Neo saw the quarterback taken for successive losses on pass plays. Neither team was able to make good use of the ball in the time remaining in the first half with the Cubs going to the break with a two point lead.
Max Granger kicked the kick-off for a touchback to open the second half to give the Cubs' defence good field position. But the Titans made a series of big plays on third downs to string together a telling drive. The Titans' scrambling quarterback was doing the damage and after running for a key third down conversion to get the ball into the Cubs' half, he scrambled out of the front of a collapsing pocket, stepped the spying linebacker and was gone through the middle of the secondary for a touchdown. Again the Cubs defence regrouped to stop the 2 point conversion attempt, but the Titans were back in the lead at 12-8.
The Cubs answered back on their next drive. Darcy and Granger teamed up again on a long completion to move to within 20 yards of the endzone, but the Cubs got behind in the count and faced third and long for the first down. Darcy was cool in the pocket, picking out Granger behind the coverage in the endzone for a touchdown. After Darcy had run in the 2 point conversion, the Cubs were back on top at 16-12.
Max Granger hit another deep kick-off, with the Titans' returner being brought down on the 16 yard line. The Cubs took advantage of a couple of dropped passes by the Titans to hold them short of a first down and force a punt. The Cubs then drove to mid-field and had run off much of the time in the half before facing 4th and 5. The Cubs went for the first down but Darcy was tackled short of the marker to give up the ball with a couple of minutes left in the half.
The Titans brought in an extra lineman at running back to provide more protection and blocking for their quarterback and drove to the 15 yard line to bring up 2nd and 2. With time running out, the Cubs made two big stops to bring up 4th and 3 and give themselves a chance to snuff out the drive. On one of the plays, Stanley Chin played perfect coverage to break up a pass in the endzone and deny a score. On the fourth down play, the Titans quarterback bought time in the backfield and then lured a Cubs' defensive back off his coverage by threatening to scramble for the first down. The QB pulled up and found the open man in the endzone for a touchdown. For the third time, the Cubs defence rallied to gang tackle the Titans' runner and deny the 2 point conversion.
With less than 60 seconds left on the clock, Jacob Stevens gave the Cubs life with a return to mid-field. Harry Granger then found room up the sideline on a wingback reverse to bring the Cubs into scoring range with time to get a touchdown and the win. However, a couple of dropped catches meant that the Cubs needed to pick up a first down and a fumbled hand-off on a wingback run saw the ball bounce free into the Titans' secondary. A Titans' defender won the race to the ball to seal the win.
There is no rest for the Cubs, as they next face the Sutherland Seahawks at the St George Hockey Centre, Mutch Ave, Kyeemagh, on Friday, 5 March 2010, kick-off at 8.30pm. The Seahawks sit on top of the Gridiron NSW Colts table with two wins in their opening matches, so it will be important for the Cubs to rebound from their loss to the Titans if they want to keep pace with the leading teams.
Cubs Topple Seahawks (5 March 2010)
Sydney Uni knocked the Seahawks off their undefeated perch in a nail-biting finish at the St George Hockey Centre on Friday night. With three touchdowns scored inside the last two minutes, there was no shortage of excitement at the end.
The Cubs started the last minute madness with Harry Granger breaking away for a 50 yard touchdown to put the Cubs ahead 32-28. Granger followed intelligent blocking from receiver Alex Klaric up the Cubs sideline, which celebrated like the game was won - much too early.
Indeed, the Seahawks must have thought they had won it after driving for a score with only 35 seconds left to take back the lead 34-32. The Cubs defence made the Seahawks earn it, but could not prevent the touchdown. As it turned out, the stops made by the defence only served to reduce the time left to the offence to get a winning score. However, the defence did rally to keep out the 2 point conversion.
But the Seahawks then gambled with an onside kick-off and the Cubs recovered the ball only 30 yards from the endzone. On the third play of the drive and with less than 15 seconds on the clock, Cubs Quarterback Sam Darcy threw a picture perfect pass to Wingback Harry Granger, who showed great technique and concentration to hold the slippery ball for a touchdown to put the Cubs ahead 38-34. Darcy and Granger then combined on an option play for 2 points to put the score out to 40-34.
Still, the drama was not over. The Cubs kick-off coverage team was stretched to the limit on the ensuing return and only a crucial tackle from kicker and last man standing Max Granger put the Seahawks returner safely over the sideline. There were 4 seconds left for one last play. The Cubs defence swarmed and eventually hunted down the Seahawks' halfback to preserve the win, new boy Sergan Isik making his first career tackle a memorable one.
Looking back to the start of the game, there should have been no surprise that it would end in an offensive shoot-out. On the very first play from scrimmage, Sutherland's impressive halfback took a hand-off going left, cut behind his fullback's block and sliced straight through the Cubs defence for a run away touchdown. He followed that up by beating the Cubs' defence to the corner pylon for a 2 point conversion and a 0-8 lead.
The Cubs started with freshman Krishan Dass at quarterback and he lead the offence with poise. After driving the Cubs into the red zone, Dass lined up at receiver to allow Harry Granger to handle the ball at quarterback. Granger took the running play in around right end for the first of his four touchdowns in the game. A bad snap on the conversion attempt saw the score remain at 8-6 to the Seahawks.
It looked as though it would be more of the same as the Seahawks bit off large chunks of yards with their running game on the next drive. But the Cubs made a stand on their 10 yard line, with Jack Danielson and Hau Neo making important tackles to bring up 4th and Goal on the 3 yard line. The Seahawks went with a play-action bootleg pass but outside linebacker Nabeel Siddiqui did enough to force an incompletion for a turnover on downs.
The Cubs then showed off their own long range strike capabilities, with Sam Darcy coming in at quarterback and ripping off a length of the field run for a touchdown. The two point conversion was stopped but the Cubs had the lead at 12-8.
But not for long. In another one play drive, the Seahawks' halfback turned on the afterburners to leave the Cubs defence in his wake on a sweep play for a touchdown from half way. Sutherland added a two point conversion to take the halftime lead at 16-12.
The Cubs took the opening possession of the second half in for a touchdown, Sam Darcy scoring on another long range run on the option. The Seahawks answered back with another long run of their own, this time their halfback escaped the clutches of several Cubs tacklers on a counter play. The Cubs returned serve with another long touchdown run from Harry Granger. This time Darcy hit Granger with a 2 point pass on the conversion to give the Cubs a 26-22 lead.
Someone had to make a stop on defence. Strong containment from Hau Neo and good pursuit from inside linebacker Andrew Shattuck combined to drop the Seahawks' halfback for a loss on the first down of the next drive. When Siddiqui tackled the runner for another big loss on third down, it looked as though the Cubs defence had finally made a crucial stop. However the Cubs were penalised for a push after the play to gift the Seahawks another first down. But the defence dug deeper and forced the Seahawks into 4th and 5 with strong run defence. On the key 4th down play, a number of Cubs players had a shot before Cameron Prentice made the tackle short of the marker to force the Seahawks to give up the ball on downs.
But the Cubs let the chance to extend the lead beyond a touchdown slip away. Darcy was tackled on a quarterback keeper and the wet ball squirted out to be recovered by the Seahawks in good field position. The defence could not hold the Seahawks again and they went in for a touchdown to take a 28-26 lead and set the stage for the frantic finale.
The last minute heroics underlined the offensive firepower of the Cubs but also demonstrated their "never say die" attitude. If the Cubs can continue to play every down as if it was their last then they will be very difficult to beat.
The Cubs now face the West Sydney Trojans at the St George Hockey Centre, Mutch Ave, Kyeemagh, on Friday, 12 March 2010, kick-off at 8.30pm. The Trojans is the only team to have an overall winning record against the Cubs, so Sydney Uni will be looking for some payback for past results as well as to consolidate its position on the table with a good win on Friday night.