Sydney Uni American Football Club

The Sydney University Lions have crowned their unbroken run of 10 straight NSW titles by winning the inaugural National Club Championship Game in American football.  Sydney University hosted the landmark event with the support of the American Australian Association and the US Studies Centre on 11 August 2013, with the championship game being played on campus on the Square in front of a large partisan crowd.

While American football has been played competitively in Australia since 1984, this was the first time the top club teams in the country had squared off for a national title.  With over 50 club teams playing around the nation in different state leagues, Gridiron Australia devised a National Club Championship ranking system based on state championships, current win/loss record and points differential to select the top two teams to contest the National Club Championship game.

Captains Joe Lim and Keenan Mackett stifled the Stingrays' attack

There was no dispute that the two best teams were playing off for the national title.  The Sydney University Lions came into the National Club Championship game as the top ranked team.  The Lions were the current Gridiron NSW champions and had won the past 10 Waratah Bowls for the NSW title.  The Lions went into the game on an incredible 83 game winning streak.  However, the second ranked team, the Gold Coast Stringray, also had a formidable record, being the reigning Gridiron Queensland champions and winning 6 of the last 7 Sun Bowls for the Queensland title.  No other team had won as many state titles over the same period.  Only one team could be the best and the National Club Championship Game would settle the score.

After pre-game formalities featuring the US Consul-General Niels Marquardt, the Lions received the ball from the opening kick-off and asserted their dominance right away.  After leading the team on a drive to midfield, Lions’ Quarterback Kiernan Dorney caught out the Stingrays gambling with extra defenders at the line of scrimmage.  Dorney changed the play-call and delivered a perfect pass to wide receiver Sam Darcy, who had beaten his defender with a strong move to get behind the coverage.  Darcy streaked away for a 47 yard touchdown reception and the Lions were on top 7-0.  It was a position they would not relinquish all game.

After such a strong opening drive, the Lions’ defence came out determined to maintain the upper hand.  The Stingrays attacked with their normally high-powered offence but, after three plays, they had failed to gain a single yard and were forced to punt the ball away.  The Sydney Uni defensive line of Nicholai Hansen, Fady Aoun, Michael Rigney and Mitchell Haney took control up front, smothering the Stingrays’ run game and harassing their quarterback into hurried passes.  The Stingrays would end up gaining only 113 yards for the game due to the outstanding play of the Lions’ defensive front.

The Lions kept rolling through the first quarter, driving in for a second score to running back Alex Watson to move the score out to 14-0, and continuing to rack up good yards with the ball.  Watson would lead the Lions rushing game, powering for 109 yards on 16 carries on the day.  The only thing which stopped the Lions from putting the game away early was their failure to punch the ball into the endzone from close range.  Twice the Lions drove all the way down to the goal line but were held out by a tenacious Stingrays’ defence.  Twice the Lions knocked back the 3 points on offer for the easy field goal to go for a touchdown on 4^th down but were denied by the Stingrays.

Alex Watson was bruising between the tackles

Finally, the defence decided enough was enough and took matters into its own hands.  After the Stingrays had taken over the ball on their own 1 yard line following their second goal line stand, the Lions attacked with a blitz play.  Outside linebacker Steve Dabin disguised his blitz until late and brought down the unsuspecting Stingrays’ quarterback in the endzone for a safety.  The Stingrays had cracked under the Lions’ relentless defensive pressure and the safety added 2 more points to the score and forced the Stingrays to kick the ball back to the Lions in good field position.

This time the Lions offence took the direct route to the endzone.  On the first play of the drive, Dorney found receiver Anthony Tuong on a deep pass for a touchdown.  The Stingrays had no answer for Tuong’s speed and Dorney’s accuracy but it was all made possible by the great play of James Gifford, Cameron Lawrence, David Thode, Aaron Carbury and David Wilson on the offensive line who protected the quarterback and gave the play the time it needed to develop.

The Lions were now well in control.  The Lions scored again before the half on an 11 yard pass to Conor Foley to put the score out to 31-0 at the break.   Foley was playing his first game of American football, having come over from the rugby union ranks, so his score was a tribute to the hard work both he and his coaches had put in to get him ready to play for a national championship in his first game in the sport.

The game was well in hand for the Lions but, with a national title at stake, there was to be no slackening off in the second half.  In an effort to shake things up, the Stingrays came out of the locker room throwing the ball out of a five wide receiver formation.  But, as the Stingrays’ quarterback soon found out, this left him vulnerable to the fierce pass rush put on by the Lions’ defence.

The Stingrays’ first two drives of the second half were both ended by Lions’ players sacking the quarterback and stripping the ball loose to set up Lions’ scores.  On the first, defensive end Mitchell Haney sacked the quarterback for linebacker Chris Noble to recover the fumble.  Rookie running back Mazen Safkouni ripped off two long runs to score his first touchdown for the Lions.  On the second drive, this time it was Chris Noble who blindsided the quarterback on a backside blitz and Michael Rigney who scooped the ball only to stumble and fall at the 12 yard line with the line open.  Kiernan Dorney ran the ball in himself to take the score out to 45-0 at the end of the third quarter.

Dorney would finish the game with the excellent figures of 16 completions on 19 pass attempts for 204 yards and 3 touchdown passes with no interceptions while also rushing for 32 yards on 6 carries.  That performance deservedly earned him the Most Valuable Player award for the game as chosen by the head coach of the Australian national team, John Leijten.

To their credit, the Stingrays kept playing hard to the end and scored two late touchdowns to bring the final score to 45-13.  However, there was no denying the dominance of the Lions when the game was on the line.  The day was rounded off by Head Coach Andrew Ogborne accepting the National Club Championship trophy on behalf of the Lions from David Sedgwick, the Chairman of Gridiron Australia.

The success of the Sydney University Lions in claiming the first ever National Club Championship in American football and, indeed, the success in staging the game at the university were due in no small part to the work of a lot of people over many years leading up to the game.  The National Club Championship comes as the Lions are celebrating their 30^th season and the Lions would like to thank all of the coaches, administrators and supporters who have given their time and effort to the club from its humble beginnings and to also thank Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness for its great support over the years.   No team succeeds without teamwork and this national title is to be shared by the whole team who made it possible.