Sydney Uni American Football Club

With the entire squad huddled under the canteen roof prior to kickoff, the Sydney University Lions realized that their round 5 matchup with the Northwest Predators was going to be defined by the weather. As torrential rain poured down on the Pennant Hills hockey field, it became clear that skill and flair would be need to traded in for hard-hitting, sure-tackling and football fundamentals.

Mick Rigney was the anchor of the Lions' D

While the final score-line gave the impression of a blowout, the game was much tighter in the initial stages. With each offensive unit trotting out a limited playbook, the defenses ruled the first half of the game. The Lions defensive line were particular standouts, with Andreas “Das” Lundinexploding onto the Predators backs in the backfield, culminating in an early safety and a 2-0 lead.

The Lions OL of Paul Edwards, Cameron Lawrence (C) James Gifford, Aaron Carbury, Ben Cloyd and Chris Golding were stout all evening

The Predators defense answered back, stopping the Lions on their first drive in the red zone and then forcing a punt on their second time with the ball, only to have their special teams fumble the return and place the Lions in excellent field position. The Lions would capitalize on this gift, with QB Kiernan Dorneyrunning in a well-designed and executed QB keep for a short TD. The rest of the first half remained

The Lions D abused the Predator's offensive line

the province of the defense, with little success had by either offensive unit. The score at half-time reflected the tight nature of the contest, with the Lions holding onto a slim 8-0 lead.

With a little time to dry off and a rousing speech from Head Coach Stephen Dunne, the Lions were a different team in the second half. Taking the season’s kickoff return completion percentage to an outstanding 50%, Ben Barnes followed a cadre of great blocks down the left sideline for his second kick return TD of the season to put the Lions up by two scores. The Lions offense didn’t want to be left out of the party, with Coach Dunne handing the reins of the offense to Daniel Kelen, who despite his under-sized hands, is renowned in NSWGFL lore for his ability to put a tight spiral on a soaking-wet football.

Danny Kelen: tiny hands, master of the ball in the rain.

Kelen preceded to put on a wet-weather clinic, running behind captain Cameron Lawrence and Ben Cloyd for a 16y TD run and capping it off with a 2-pt conversion throw to uncovered WR Mac Shine.

The Lions defense put in another trademark performance, shutting down all aspects of the Predators attack and recording their fourth shutout to start the 2011 campaign. The Blue and Gold continually shut down the Predators attack in the backfield, to the tune of 10 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. On an individual note, Nick Sklandev continued to build his growing reputation, leading the tackle count with 6 tackles, a sack and a pass break-up. The defense also had a strong contribution from an unlikely source, with starting RB and recent Outback representative Liam Erby (read more about Liam here) filling in admirably at outside linebacker. Despite being blocked below the waist all evening, Erby helped to terrorize the opposition’s skill positions, hammering the Predators running back five yards deep in the backfield.

Liam Erby was a terror off the edge all evening

A third TD, a screen pass from Dorney, was sprung by a tough block by veteran WR Marc Biedenkapp. The block was all the more impressive due to the fact that it came one drive after Biedenkapp had elevated above his defensive back snared a spiral from Kelen for the score. The combination of soft hands and tough blocking is a package that all young WRs in the league should aim for.

Final Stats:
Rushing
Lions – 41 carries for 214 yards @ 5.2 YPC with 4 TDs.
Predators – 31 carries for 1 yard @ 0.0 YPC with 0 TDs and 3 fumbles.
Passing
Lions – 15 attempts for 10 completions (67%) for 51 yards @ 5.1 YPC with 2 TDs.
Predators – 5 attempts for 1 completions

(20%) for -2 yards @ -2 YPC with 0 TDs and 3 INTs.
The win took the Lions’ consecutive win streak to 61, nearly double the tally they had registered before it was last broken. The last team to beat the Lions: the West Sydney Pirates, who the Lions will face next weekend on the hallowed turf of Kyeemagh RSL, the same venue where the Pirates toppled the Lions back in 2006. Games between these two squads are always hard-hitting and with an undefeated spot at the top of the table up for grabs, this one promises to be a clash for the ages.

This is the result of spearing all night and not using your hands: you miss the tackle and the Lions run in for a TD.