LIONS HANG ON AGAINST MUSTANGS

Sydney Uni escaped with a narrow win over the Wollongong College Mustangs in their round 7 clash at Berkeley Sports Club.  The Lions hung on in a cliff-hanger after Mustangs receiver Vaughan Swart had scored on a 65 yard pass play to bring the score back to 41-39 late in the fourth quarter.  On the two point conversion attempt, Lions free safety Anthony Sinton tackled Swart just short of the endzone as he ran the ball on an end around and the varsity ran out the clock on its final drive to preserve the win.  Only twice before in its 23 year history had the Lions conceded 39 points in a match, and never in a match it had won.  While the Lions had been involved in games in which more total points have been scored, never before had they played in such a close high scoring game. 

The game began with both teams making yards but failing to score on their opening drives.  After that, scoring was not the problem.  The Lions opened the scoring with a 5 yard TD run to Matt Croasdaile, finishing off a drive in which he and Chris Snagg had made all of the 66 yards of the drive on the ground.  Erby's extra point was good. 

Once the scoring had started, it could not be stopped - the opening TD heralding a passage of monster plays.  The Mustangs responded with their stand-out receiver, Vaughan Swart, taking the kick-off return all the way for a 85 yard touchdown.  The Mustangs went for 2 points but failed, Chady Aoun making the stop on the scrambling quarterback to leave the score at 7-6.  Anthony Sinton then returned the favour, returning the ensuing kick-off for 63 yards to the Mustangs' 5 yard line.  Chris Snagg carried the ball in the rest of the way and Erby converted for a 14-6 lead.  On their first play after the kick-off, Mustangs receiver Swart ran the ball 70 yards for a touchdown on an end around, making it his second play of 70 plus yards in just three plays.  After a couple of false starts, the Mustangs quarterback then snuck the two point conversion into the endzone to tie up the game at 14 all at the end of the first quarter.

The Lions kept on rolling after the change of ends, Snagg and Croasdaile making good yardage on the ground behind the Lions offensive line of James Gifford, David Allen, Tim Snape, Cameron Lawrence and Dave Thode.  This time Chris Snagg did the honours from 16 yards and, with the PAT, the Lions edged out to 21-14.  Again the Mustangs responded with a long TD run, the fullback taking the ball 27 yards on the dive play as the Lions defence looked for the end around.  The Mustangs evened the score at 21 with the PAT.  The Lions bounced back with a more balanced drive, Kiernan Dorney firing completions to Mathew Freeman and a 16 yard TD pass to Liam Erby mixed in with good gains on the ground.  The conversion made it 28-21 to the Lions. 

Then, after seven consecutive scoring drives it finally happened - defence got a stop.  The Mustangs drove down to the Lions 19 yard line as time was running out to end the half.  On 4th and 4, defensive tackle David Allen sacked the Mustangs' Quarterback as he scrambled back to the line of scrimmage to halt the scoring sequence and give the Lions the lead 28-21 at the half.

However, the Mustangs offence was back in gear again after the break, driving the field and throwing a 10 yard TD strike to that man again, Vaughan Swart, on a lateral screen pass.  The defensive line blocked the PAT to keep the Lions in front at 28-27.  The Lions offence also continued to motor.  On the next drive, Matt Croasdaile busted a 24 yard run and had a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tacked onto the end of the run for good measure.  Liam Erby showed great strength and evasion to run in the touchdown from 28 yards.  However, Erby missed the extra point to leave the score at 34-27. 

The Lions then achieved a rare feat, forcing the Mustangs offence to go three and out.  Ryan Wonser made a tackle for a loss on first down and pressure on the quarterback from Piotr Milewski and pressure on the intended receiver from Anthony Sinton and linebacker Joe Lim saw the third down pass fall incomplete.  The Lions regained the ball at mid-field after the punt with a chance to open a two touchdown lead.  A 43 yard pass from Dorney to Freeman did the trick, getting the Lions into the red zone.  The Lions then went back to the ground, with Matt Croasdaile driving the advantage home from 4 yards.  The PAT was good for a 41-27 lead with one quarter to play. 

However, the Mustangs were far from done for the night, driving down to the Lions 15 in three plays.  The Lions defence dug in, forcing a 4th down and 1 on the 6 yard line.  A penalty gave the Mustangs a first and goal on the 3, then Craig Morgan looked like he had stolen a fumble on the next play but could not convince the umpires.  On third down on the 1 yard line, Swart swept the ball wide and into the endzone on the end around.  However, in an important play, Lions safety J T Klepp made the tackle to stop the 2 point attempt to leave the score at 41-33. 

The Lions offence then stuttered for the first time all evening, needing to punt from mid-field.  After a touchback, the Mustangs regained the ball on their 20 with time running out.  On 3rd and 5, a lateral screen pass to Swart was turned into another runaway touchdown - 65 yards down the sideline to bring the Mustangs to within two points.  The Mustangs went for the 2 point conversion, running the end around to their go-to guy, Vaughan Swart.  However, this time Anthony Sinton was there to meet him as he cut inside and make the tackle short of the endzone on the game's biggest play.   

There was still work for the Lions to do after the kick-off to kill the game, including converting on a 4th down and 1.  Croasdaile and Snagg moved the ball to the Mustangs 21 yard line before time ran out.

The game was remarkable for the number of long gainers broken by Mustangs receiver, Vaughan Swart.  He ran in three touchdowns from over 65 yards out and scored 5 touchdowns in total.  Simply the greatest individual performance by a player against the Lions ever.  Swart had starred as a wide receiver at McMaster University in Canada, catching 221 passes for 4,539 yards and 33 touchdowns in a 5 year career.  It was some consolation to the team to know they had been burned by a class player.  It is a credit to the Lions that its team effort was able to overcome a night of such individual brilliance. 

Lions 41 def. Mustangs 39

21 October 2006

Berekeley Sports Club, Berkeley

1Q SU:  Croasdaile 5 yd TD run. Erby PAT.               7:0

1Q WM:  Swart 85 yd kick-off return TD.  2 pt failed    7:6

1Q SU:  Snagg 5 yd TD run.  Erby PAT                   14:6

1Q WM:  Swart 70 yd TD run.  # 2 pt run.               14:14

2Q SU:  Snagg 16 yd TD run.  Erby PAT                  21:14

2Q WM:  #27 27 yd TD run.  # PAT                       21:21

2Q SU:  Erby 16 yd TD pass.  Erby PAT                  28:21

3Q WM:  Swart 10 yd TD pass.  PAT blocked              28:27

3Q SU:  Erby 28 yd TD run.  Erby PAT failed            34:27

3Q SU:  Croasdaile 4 yd TD run.  Erby PAT              41:27

4Q WM:  Swart 1 yd TD run.  2 pt run failed            41:33

4Q WM:  Swart 65 yd TD pass.  2 pt run failed          41:39