MATCH REPORT: BAFA DIVISION 2 EAST. GAME 5. NORWICH DEVILS VS OUSE VALLEY EAGLES

In the 5th week of the Devils’ Division 2 East Campaign, they welcomed The Ouse Valley Eagles to Pound Lane in Norwich. Weather had threatened the fixture, but the rain held off just enough to see the game through in damp but manageable conditions. Even so, it would be a game of mistakes and turnovers. Ouse had travelled light, and although the game could have been postponed due to low player numbers, Ouse decided to play, and they brought a bucket load of passion and grit with them.

Prior to the kick-off, there was a minute silence to remember Joe Waller. Joe was a Devils player who sadly passed away after a battle with cancer. His family were at the game and his teammates wore #62 decals, throughout the game, in honour of him. Joe was a kind hearted man and was well liked by all his peers. He will be greatly missed.

Joe Waller.

The Eagles won the toss and deferred. Norwich chose to receive, and the offence took to the field after the booming kick bounced over Francisco Santana’s head and was collected on the 5. Santana then took an off tackle left hand-off 36 yards down the left sideline with superb blocking from Adam Jones and Aaron Wheatley. This was then followed by an 11-yard run from QB Jay Crawl and another run up the middle of 29 yards from Santana. The Devils were marching down the field and were soon in the redzone before Crawl was sacked by Ouse OLB #30 for a 9-yard loss. The drive stalled here. Head Coach Stuart Theobald decided to go for it on 4th down, but the Devils failed and turned the ball over to the Eagles on their own 22.

Ouse Valley tried to set up their run game, but Middle linebacker Seth Shipley made three clean-up tackles after the Ouse back, #22, got slowed down by the Devils D line and they were forced to punt.

There followed two quick series, where neither team could move the ball, before an Ouse punt made it only to the Devils 46 and returner Javaris Samuels caught it and proceeded to return it to the Eagles’ 33. Jay Crawl scrambled for 12 before Francisco Santana sprinted down the left sideline and trucked his way through Ouse Valley’s #41 for the score. The 2-point attempt was good and the Devils were up 8 to 0.

Francisco Santana trucks #41.

Disaster struck for Ouse Valley when #10 dropped the following kick-off return, picked it up, ran left, then fumbled on the 30. The Devils’ Tom Earl recovered and the offence went onto the field with great field position.

Francisco Santana set off running again with a nice 12-yard gain to the left before the Devils coughed the ball up on a QB running back exchange fumble on the Ouse 16.

The Eagles went on a long drive in terms of plays but could not break the halfway line. They finally punted from their own 30 after a penalty halted their progress. Norwich took over on their own 25 but their drive was cut short just 4 plays later when Jay Crawl underthrew his receiver and defensive back #29 picked him off over the middle. The Eagles got the ball back, on the Devils’ 35, but a wayward snap sent them back into their own half and their drive came to a premature end. With turnovers and penalties plaguing both sides, it was already looking like a scrappy game.

Mason Hodds Sacks Ouse Valley's quarterback on 3rd down.

Neither team could sustain a drive. Mental mistakes and poor ball handling were proving to be the markers of the game for both sides. After a couple of punts, and another QB running back exchange fumble between Jay Crawl and Francisco Santana, the Devils finally set up for the two-minute drill at the end of the first half. A 5-play drive, that started on the Ouse 38, culminated in a 24 yard scramble for Crawl. He walked into the end zone for his first rushing TD of the season. The 2-point attempt was good and the Devils went into halftime with a lead of 16 points to 0.

Conditions were damp throughout the game.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Ouse Valley received the ball but couldn’t pass the half-way point. Their opening drive was stopped cold when safety Lewis Norton undercut #7’s out route to #84 and ran it back 40 yards, untouched, for the pick 6. The 2-point attempt failed and the score now stood at 22-0. Ouse’s next drive stuttered and they punted after another difficult and unproductive drive. Norwich took over but promptly turned the ball over themselves after Jay Crawl dropped the snap on the Ouse 26-yard line.  

After more struggles from both offences, Ouse took over and finally got into Norwich territory before a wayward pass into double coverage, from Quarterback #7, was picked off by Seth Shipley and returned back out near midfield. It really did seem like turnovers were the overarching theme of the day.

Still, the Devils could not put a drive together. They kicked the ball away again and the game stagnated until Ouse found themselves on their own 41 after a Devils punt. Ouse Ran up the middle with #22 and he broke a tackle from the Devils’ OLB Josh Clouting. He weaved his way through the secondary on his way to an impressive 59-yard TD run. The Devils' bend but don’t break defence had broken. The Eagles failed their 2-point attempt leaving the score at 22-6.

Devils' pass rush.

Due to the low numbers brought by Ouse Valley, the game had been put on a running clock. The Eagles players were playing both ways and tiredness and attrition was taking its toll. Both head coaches agreed that a running clock was better than calling the game off and so time dwindled away as both teams attempted to make something of their respective bad days at the office. The only highlight of note, toward the end of the game, was a 39 yard catch and run from Fred Harris where he broke 10 tackles before being dragged down at the Ouse Valley 49. A flurry of passes from Jay Crawl couldn’t get that final score on the board and the game ended 22-6.

Both teams will meet again this season when Norwich travel to Ouse Valley in Mid-July.