MATCH REPORT: BAFA DIVISION 2 EAST. GAME 2. NORWICH DEVILS VS COLCHESTER GLADIATORS

 

Daisies peppered the field as Norwich welcomed the Colchester Gladiators to Pound Lane for this Division 2 clash. Widely regarded as the two favourites to win the division, Norwich and Colchester both had backers on the various pundit websites. This would be a great test for both teams early in their respective campaigns.

 

Norwich would receive, and they stuttered their way to midfield with the help of a 15 yard face cage penalty against OLB Josh Mews on WR Fred Harris, but the drive was ended when Colchester safety Callum Roberts intercepted Jay Crawl over the middle on a post to Fred Harris.

 

Colchester clearly wanted to set the tone with their run game and began to pound away inside. Their FB and HB both had carries on their way down to the 15 with Andrew Cairns showing great balance and strength on the way. The drive ultimately stalled though due to a false start penalty and Brad Ling kicked a 25 yard field goal.

 

Disaster struck on the next Devils drive when the quarterback to running back mesh went wrong and the ball bounced on the ground in-between Tim Johnson and Jay Crawl. Colchester’s Eddie Howard-Franks was blitzing and the ball literally popped up into his hands as he steamed through to the perceived ball carrier. In stride, he carried on through and ran 28 yards for the score. Colchester succeeded on the PAT and went up 10 to nothing.

 

More woes for the Devils as they went 3 and out on the very next drive and gave the ball back to the now buoyant Gladiators. Colchester started deep in their own territory and got all the way out to around the 50 before stalling and punting back to Norwich.

 

The Devils started the 2^nd quarter with a 19 yard pass from Crawl to Harris but the drive failed again and they punted back to the Gladiators. The angled kick from punter Adam Jones rolled down into the corner and left Colchester with a long way to go. 7 plays later, Colchester were nearing half way but had to punt after stout defending from the Devils D line. The offence’s only real success coming from a play action pass from Rob Turner to Aaron Brooke-Martin on a 3^rd and 7.

 

The Devils took over on their own 39 yard line and Crawl handed off on a zone left run to Francisco Santana. The number 4 weaved his way through the Colchester defence with key blocks being thrown by Fred Harris, Charlie Keohane and Aaron Wheatley. Safety Calum Roberts took a poor angle and missed the open field tackle which let Santana sprint 61 yards to pay dirt, soon to be joined by RT Joe Chilvers who was still blocking downfield as Santana scored. The PAT was good and the Devils were on the board. 10-7.

 

Both teams then exchanged possessions before the Devils took over on their own 22. A 29 yard pass from Crawl to Adam Jones took the ball to near midfield and then the offence stuttered again until Jay Crawl rolled out to his right and found that CB #21 had blown his coverage leaving Aaron Wheatley wide open 35 yards downfield. Crawl saw the open receiver and fired a deep shot down the right sideline. Wheatley scampered in untouched for the go-ahead score. Kicker Ian Latham missed the PAT but the Devils were up 13-10.

 

Colchester promptly went 3 and out and gave the Devils the ball back on their own 47 after a poor punt, from Brad Ling, of a net of 9 yards.

 

Crawl hit Santana, over the middle, for 18 yards before testing #21 on another deep shot down the right sideline. WR Javaris Samuels raised his arms and the ball dropped right in as he crossed the plane for the TD. HC, Stuart Theobald, wanted to recoup the points from the missed PAT and went for two. Adam Jones caught he slant but the play was called back for holding.

 

Colchester took to the field but immediately turned the ball over. QB, Rob Turner threw to the right and into double coverage and Lewis Norton chalked up his second interception of the season with a toe tap catch. This gave the Devils the ball back, in their own territory, with only seconds left in the first half. They decided to air it out and see if they could score one more time while they had the momentum. A quick pass to Adam Jones brought the ball over the half way line and set up the Devils for a couple of shot plays.

Unfortunately, Jay Crawl was intercepted on a hail Mary by Colchester’s Lewis Mews and Norwich closed the half at 20-10.

 

The Gladiators showed their pedigree by coming out in the second half with determination. They strung together a 9 play drive and took the ball all the way down to the Devils’ 5 yard line. The Devil defence held though and Colchester were forced to settle for a chip shot field goal. 20-13.

 

Norwich responded with an 8 play drive of their own, that started on their own 47, and culminated with an 8 yard toss to Francisco Santana for the running back’s second TD of the day. Adam Jones’  PAT was wide left. 26-10.

 

By now it was clear that Colchester could sustain a drive with their inside run game and play action passes over the middle. A sack from Mason Hodds only slowed their march until a big tackle for a loss by Liam Lane and Daniel Hewitt was followed by a 4^th down sack from Chris Waterhouse. This stopped the drive and gave the Devils the ball on a turnover on downs at their own 27.

 

The Devils then went running round the left side on a failed fire call punt and the Gladiators got the ball straight back with a short field. They seized the opportunity. This time they mixed up their heavy run game with more passing and they got into the end zone by picking on Devils CB Wayne Diggines.

Earlier in the drive, Diggines had tipped a ball over the receiver’s head but Colchester continued to target him. Unfortunately, the Colchester WR had pushed off the Devils CB to create separation and so the TD did not stand, they lost yardage, and had to try again. They continued their attempt to expose Diggines but he responded in valiant fashion by intercepting Rob Turner on the 17 yard line.

 

Norwich took full advantage of the turnover, and change of momentum, by putting together a long drive to run as much clock out as possible. They worked the ball down to the Colchester 19 and Adam Jones put through the 35 yard field goal kick for a lead of 29 points to 10.

 

Far from over, Colchester marched straight down the field, from the kick-off, with passes from Rob Turner to Aaron Brooke-Martin and #9 before hitting #9 on a bubble screen for a TD. The 2 point conversion was good and the Gladiators were now only 11 points behind at 29-18.

 

They went for the onside kick and made it. The momentum had turned yet again. Norwich conceded ground on their way to giving up another TD when Rob Turner hit #15 on an out route. The 2 point attempt was good and that took the score to 29-26.

 

By now, it was clear that anything could happen. The Gladiators didn’t attempt an onside kick and instead kicked off to Tay Green. The returner took it on the 7 and sliced through the middle on his way to a 93 yard TD return. Jones’ PAT attempt was blocked making the score 35-26.

 

Colchester refused to give up and promptly marched down the field on the next possession until Mason Hodds stripped the ball on a Rob Turner scramble. The Devils recovered it on their own 5 and proceeded to run out the final seconds of the game clock.

 

The final whistle blew on a nail-biting battle between the two hot favourites for the Division 2 East table. The return fixture looks to be a beauty as the Devils travel to Corporal Budd VC Gymnasium in Colchester.