Lions Sink Pirates
Posted on September 25, 2010
Tristan Cauhepe cruises into the endzone for one of his two touchdowns
Sydney Uni saw off the West Sydney Pirates at Bill Delauney Reserve on Saturday to record a 48-33 victory and stay on top of the Gridiron NSW table.
The Lions jumped straight out of the blocks, with Liam Erby ripping off a 55 yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage. And he was at it again on the first play of the next drive too, this time running away for a 78 yard touchdown. So, after barely three plays on offence, the Lions had a 14-0 lead and Erby had the fastest 100 yard rushing game in Lions history.
But the Pirates got into the spirit of the game and, on their next play from scrimmage, went the distance for an 84 yard rushing touchdown of their own.
And still the scoring kept on coming. On their next drive, the Lions constructed a seven play, 47 yard touchdown drive, quarterback Kiernan Dorney hitting receiver Tristan Cauhepe on a 9 yard slant for the score after earlier hooking up with Marc Biedenkapp for a 29 yard completion to get the Lions in range. The touchdown lifted the score to 21-7 – still in the first quarter.
The Lions defence broke the sequence of scoring drives with an interception early in the next series. Cornerback Kevin Trinh had position to bat a deep pass away from the intended receiver and safety Ben Barnes was in the perfect inside position to hold the pick and return it to the Pirates’ 31 yard line.
Kevin Trinh batted down this pass ....
.... for Ben Barnes to snare his first interception for the Lions
However, the Pirates’ defence stood firm on the next series, getting the ball back after forcing the Lions into an incompletion on 4th and 9. The Pirates offence then drove the ball, mixing the pass and the run, and finished the series with a nicely judged fade route to the always dangerous Dean Toskoski for a 22 yard touchdown. The score was left at 21-13 after the Pirates failed to run in a two point conversion attempt.
The Lions moved the ball with purpose on their next possession, but again handed the ball over on downs after getting into scoring territory. Dorney hit passes to Biedenkapp and Mac Shine to get the ball to the Pirates’ 23 yard line but then missed three straight to bring up the fourth down. A draw play did not fool anyone and the Pirates had another turnover.
But the Lions defence got the ball back, forcing a three and out series to give possession back to the Lions on the Pirates’ 40 yard line after the punt. And one play was all it would take – Tristan Cauhepe taking a screen pass down the sideline behind blocking from Mac Shine for a 40 yard touchdown and a 28-13 scoreline.
Liam Erby ran for 232 yards, including touchdown runs of 55 and 78 yards
And one play was all the Pirates would need to strike back – Dean Toskoski catching a deep pass over the middle and then bamboozling the Lions’ defenders with a swerving run for a 64 yard touchdown. This time the two point conversion was successful for the Pirates to bring the score back to 28-21.
Yet the scoring was still not done for the half. With less than a minute on the clock, Dorney completed a deep pass to Cauhepe down the sideline to the 8 yard line and then coolly tossed a touchdown to Marc Biedenkapp in the back corner of the endzone on the last play of the half to see the Lions leading 35-21 at the break.
The Pirates opened the second half with a strong drive, making all but 8 yards on the ground, before scoring to tighten the contest to 35-27.
Greg Wernecke scoops and scores to ice the game
The Lions looked to answer back on their next drive and had Dorney away for a long gain on an option play only for the officials to be fooled by the fake to the fullback and blow the play dead. The Lions were forced to punt and the defences of both teams then started to exert some pressure. The Lions forced a three-and-out from the Pirates and the Pirates forced a fumble from the Lions at midfield. The Pirates then forced the issue with a breakout 54 yard score from a screen play on 3rd and 14. The Pirates were behind by two and went for two on the conversion but failed, leaving the Lions in the lead at 35-33.
The Lions again gave the ball up without gaining a first down and it looked as though the Pirates were driving in for a score until safety Anthony Sinton stripped the ball from the Pirates fullback and recovered the fumble at the Lions 23 yard line.
The Lions offence then righted the ship, driving 77 yards for a touchdown on the back of Liam Erby, who handled the ball on 7 plays for 51 yards on the drive. The score had the Lions in front 42-33 and the defence was determined to close out the win. Linebacker Joe Lim intercepted the Pirates quarterback on the next series and then backers Chris Noble and Greg Wernecke delivered the coup de grace. Noble sacked and stripped the quarterback on the following drive for Wernecke to scoop and score from 65 yards out. That sealed the game and the Lions ran out winners 48-33 in a well-played game.