Sydney Uni American Football Club

The Sydney Uni Lions welcomed the Sutherland Seahawks back to Division I football on Saturday evening with a dominating defensive display to record a 63-0 shutout. The Seahawks had 26 veterans and 17 players with a Colts Division championship on their roster, but found it hard going against the defending GNSW champions.

On defence, the Lions’ defensive line shut down the Seahawks’ rushing attack, with Martin Balada (9 tackles, 3 for loss and 1 sack), Batuhan Tuylu (6 tackles, 2 for loss and 3 sacks) and Fady Aoun (4 tackles, 1 for loss and 1 sack) leading the way and Alexander Hunt (1 TFL and 1 sack), Joel Suttor and Supi Save making strong contributions.

At linebacker, Chenghao Cui (6 tackles) and Steve Dabin (5 tackles with 3 for loss) led the tackle count, while the young guns in the linebacking corps all recorded career firsts – Chris Tolson with his first sack, Greg Steele-Mills with his first tackle for loss and Mitchell Dicalfas with his first fumble recovery.

But the major damage was done in the secondary, with Nick Olive and Keenan Mackett both returning interceptions for touchdowns and the team setting a new club record with 18 passes defended. Cornerbacks Kevin Trinh, Suren Wickramasinghe, Chris Day, Tim Dooley and Tim Nguyen got their hands on passes all night while safeties Mackett, Olive, Mitchell Henderson and Valerie Tizaniel were a constant menace in both coverage and run support.

All of this added up to a shutout for the Lions defence (while scoring two TDs of their own) as the Seahawks lost a total of 10 net yards on the ground (including sacks) and lost a total of 37 net yards through the air (including interception return yardage).

The Lions’ offence, meanwhile, kept the points ticking over, with Quarterbacks Matt Hilley (14 of 20 for 173 yards with 3 TDs and 1 Int) and Steve Weingarten (11 of 16 for 106 yards with 0 TDs and 0 Ints) distributing the ball to receivers Conor Foley (6 catches for 85 yards with 1 TD), Harry Granger (5 catches for 67 yards and 1 TD), Sam Darcy (5 catches for 61yards and 1 TD) and Zac Smith-Bubbins (6 catches for 30 yards). Running backs Alex Watson, Charles Adams and Abdul Kadir got the yards needed on the ground, while the offensive line of Aaron Carbury, Alex Perdios, James Gifford, Victor Teixeria and Elliot Mills-Connolly did not give up a sack for the game.

The Lions now move on to face the unbeaten Northwestern Predators at Darling Street Park, Greystanes, on Saturday, 24 September 2016, with the kick-off at 6pm.