LIONS OVER MUSTANGS

Sydney Uni defeated Wollongong 41-16 in their round 9 match at Berkeley Sports Club on Saturday evening.  The game was a match-up of the teams standing on the top and bottom of the Gridiron NSW ladder, but proved to be a hard-fought encounter.

The Lions started fast, cornerback Chris Snagg picking off a third down pass attempt at mid-field on the opening drive.  Snagg would have an outstanding game, equalling the Lions game record by taking three interceptions and, but for a running into the passer call negating another pick, would have set a new Lions record with four.  The offence wasted no time either, Liam Erby setting off on the longest run from scrimmage this year to score on a 43 yard carry.

The Mustangs bounced back to take the lead on the next drive.  Three consecutive plays of 15 yards got them close and a 22 yard pass to the endzone got them six points.  An end-around play on the conversion got them 2 more and an 8-7 lead. 

The Lions returned serve with a 55 yard scoring drive, Mac Shine grabbing a 4 yard pass and a 14-8 lead.  The key play on the drive was a 16 yard run by Liam Erby on 4th and 9 on the 25 yard line to maintain the drive.  Erby would finish the game with 143 rushing yards on 13 carries at the healthy average of 11 yards per carry. 

The Lions then broke serve on the next series.  After dodging a bullet when a kick-off return for a touchdown was wiped off for a block in the back, the defence forced a punt in the first series of downs and Colby Myers blocked the punt to hand back the ball to the offence on the 5 yard line.  Quarterback Dan Kelen tossed a pass to Mathew Freeman for the touchdown to take the score out to 21-8.  Freeman was in on the scoring action again on the next drive.  On third and five, Kelen hit Freeman and Freeman hit the afterburners to go 64 yards for a memorable touchdown.  The touchdown was classic Freeman: a neat hook and go move to fool the defender, speed after the catch to outrun the pursuit and brute force to bump off the free safety who tried to put him into touch at the goalline.  It was all the more memorable for being the 42nd touchdown caught by Mathew Freeman in his career, taking him past the Lions career record previously held by Gordon Ogborne since 1988. 

At 28-8, the Mustangs could have decided to go through the motions, but they kept fighting.  On their next drive, a Mustangs receiver beat the defence at the line of scrimmage on a screen play and set off on a 41 yard run down to the Lions' goal-line.  Only great pursuit and a difficult open field tackle from the corneback on the other side of the field, James Drury, saved the touchdown.  The Mustangs had 6 plays inside the Lions' 10 yard line but came away with nothing when linebacker Joe Lim stepped in front of a pass and returned it out to the 31 yard line.  The Lions defence was put under more pressure after the ball was coughed up on a fumble a few plays later, but forced the Mustangs' quarterback to throw seven straight incompletions to preserve the 28-8 lead at the half. 

The Lions started the second half with purpose, driving down to the 7 yard line on their opening drive, only to fumble possession away in sight of the endzone.  Snagg got the ball back with the second of his interceptions at mid-field and the Lions drove down close but again came up short - this time Kelen throwing an interception from the 10 yard line.  Snagg seemed to have ended the ensuing Mustangs drive with a third interception only for the officials to call a "running into the passer" penalty and bring the play back.  The Mustangs made the Lions pay, taking advantage of some further penalty calls to get close and then toss a 10 yard touchdown pass.  A successful 2 point conversion brought the score back to 28-16.

The Lions were back in business on their next drive.  Passes of 16 yards and 23 yards - the second for the touchdown - to receiver Tristan Cauhepe highlighted a balanced drive.  Erby added the extra point for a 35-16 lead.  Snagg then took his third (fourth!) interception for the game on the next drive and returned it to the 16 yard line.  Mac Shine, filling in at running back for the game, punched the ball into the endzone from close range to round off the scoring at 41-16. 

Colby Myers lead the tackle count on defence with 13 and a blocked punt, while Chris Snagg finished with 3 interceptions and 2 passes broken up.  Mathew Freeman caught 95 yards receiving on 4 catches and Liam Erby lead the team in rushing with 143 yards.  Dan Kelen threw 4 touchdown passes and only his red zone interception marred another excellent game.  Generally, the game was full of strong, but slightly flawed, performances.  The offensive line lead the way for a strong ground game but allowed 2 sacks.  The running backs averaged 8.6 yards per rush but lost 2 fumbles.  The secondary allowed the Mustangs' quarterback to complete only 22% of his passes but allowed two passing TDs.  Full game statistics have been posted to the Statistics link on the Lions page.  

With the end of the regular season now in sight, the Lions will look to remove any blemishes from their game for the run into the play-offs. 

Sydney Uni Lions 41 def. West Sydney Pirates 16

24 November 2007

Berkeley Sports Club

1Q SU:  Erby 43 yd TD run.  Erby PAT                        7:0

1Q WM:  # 22 yd TD pass from #. 2 pt run                    7:8

2Q SU:  Shine 4 yd TD pass from Kelen. Erby PAT            14:8

2Q SU:  Freeman 5yd TD pass from Kelen. Erby PAT           21:8

2Q SU:  Freeman 64 yd TD pass from Kelen. Erby PAT         28:8

3Q WM:  # 10 yd TD pass from #. 2 pt pass                  28:16

3Q SU:  Cauhepe 23 yd TD pass from Kelen.  Erby PAT        35:16

4Q SU:  Shine 3 yd TD run. Erby PAT failed                 41:16