Falcons edge Tsunami, avoid upset in thriller
Yet again the Brighton Tsunami found themselves embroiled in one of the most nail-biting, excruciatingly tense games across the BUAFL landscape and yet again despite a brave effort the south coast team came up short.
Tsunami had 2 drives late in the fourth quarter, one as time expired, in which to penetrate the end zone and snatch a victory from the much favoured Kent Falcons in an upset effort which would have rocked the South Eastern Conference. However the Tsunami offensive unit could not muster the necessary yards on either occasion and the game ended 13-8 to the visiting Falcons.
As the two teams prepared to take the field at Brighton’s Falmer campus, they found it blanketed in an obscuring veil of fog. Luckily as the sun emerged towards kick off time it succeeded in burning away the vision obscuring mist and the game was allowed to proceed unimpaired.
The game was an ill-tempered affair which was often influenced by the officials. On Kent Falcon’s opening offensive play Tsunami’s rookie defensive tackle Dom Farbrace appeared to have scooped up a fumble and advanced the necessary 3 yards to record the first touchdown of the day, however the play was nullified by a neutral zone infraction before the snap by another defensive player. Penalties such as this would plague the Tsunami all day and ultimately proved to be fatal in such a closely contested affair. Wide Receiver coach Romaine Jackson would estimate upon the conclusion of the game that Brighton surrendered over 150 yards in penalties during the contest.
The air of hostility that surrounded the game owed much to the conduct of a few specific players. Kent Falcons #4 notched his first personal foul within the opening 5 minutes of the game, and bafflingly evaded a second which would have signalled ejection as he continued to take cowardly cheap shots at Tsunami players after the conclusion of almost every play, most heinously horse collaring helmetless wide receiver Nathan Crossman to the ground significantly after the play was whistled dead due to the safety implications of Crossman’s helmet becoming dislodged.
The Tsunami players should be noted for the stoic manner in which they suffered being repeatedly head butted, face masked and taunted, with very little protection from the officials, and resisted descending to similarly morally bankrupt levels with retaliatory attacks. It truly was a shame to see such classless behaviour mar such a closely fought and thrilling encounter particularly in a sport where honour and virtue are usually championed.
For the third consecutive time this season the Tsunami entered the second quarter with a 0-0 score line having shut out the opposing offense and struggled to convert promising drives into points with their own unit. Defence continued to dominate in the second quarter as Kent drove down into the Tsunami red zone only for a fourth down stand by the red hot Brighton defensive unit to repel them bereft of points. However with an agonising 5 seconds left in the first half Kent capitalised on extremely fortunate field position and recorded the first points of the day with a touchdown pass from 5 yards out leaving the score at 6-0 going into the half after the extra point was missed.
The Falcon’s quarterback (#7) was sharp all day and on the back of his spectacular arm strength and accuracy it was clear to see how Kent had shredded the LSBU Spartans to the tune of 41 points in week 1. Throughout the game #7 threw profusely and continually put the ball in situations that gave his receivers chances to make plays. However some stellar coverage from Tsunami’s corners and line backers all but nullified the Kent receiving core conceding very little in the air throughout the course of the game.
The Falcons had become familiar with Tsunami’s Darelle Revis-esque shutdown corner Richard Cooling as he ravaged their passing attack in the two teams previous meeting last season recording 4 interceptions on the day. Based on this knowledge the Kent coaching staff elected to all but ignore Cooling’s side of the field throwing only once at him and almost immediately regretting it as the ball sailed narrowly past Cooling’s ball hawking hands falling incomplete. This total neglect of half the field saw opposite corner Stewart Probert tested exhaustively as Kent unleashed an aerial assault on the final year defensive back.
Probert excelled under pressure defending an array of passes and fighting through a broken finger to record his third interception of the season on an attempted deep pass down the side line. Rookie line-backer pair Stewart Kidd and James Ash also recorded solid performances with suffocating coverage when called upon.
The Tsunami offense finally came to life in the second half as on the back of running back Scott Welsh who recorded two huge gains on consecutive plays by bursting through some gaping holes left in the wake of a rampaging Tsunami offensive line lead by Luc Higham, George Burdon and Bradley McManus. The Kent Falcons proved to have no answer for Welsh’s mazy evasive running style as he breezed in from 26 yards out to tie the game at 6-6. Again the extra point was unsuccessful.
The third quarter came and went without incident as both defences traded big plays and quashed any offensive progress. The Tsunami defensive line were impervious all day owing much to the full time return of Brad “Tebow” McManus who lead the unit to a thoroughly impressive performance. As Kent looked to change things up and get their ground game going by substituting in a larger more mobile quarterback to marshal a wildcat style offense, the defensive line from Brighton proved unperturbed with ends Sean Jones and rookie Luke Cassidy bottling up any attempt by the wily quarterback to escape their clutches, funnelling the running game into the waiting arms of the tenacious defensive tackles.
In the 4th quarter the Tsunami defence marched themselves backwards with a dizzying variety of penalties, eventually conceding a 1 yard score to the Kent quarterback who fell into the end zone from close range. After converting the extra point the score stood at 13-6 and Tsunami quarterback Jake Beale took to the field looking to lead his team down for the tying score.
Lamentably for the Tsunami their drive sputtered and stalled once they marched inside the Kent 10 yard with Scott Welsh, who had looked unstoppable all day, coming up short on 4th and goal. Brighton reached this point thanks to some bruising, punishing running from full back George Eghator who swatted would be tacklers off him with ease blasting his way down the field on a designed screen play. The Kent side line erupted at the demise of the Tsunami drive thinking that as the game had only 2 minutes left until it’s conclusion that they had the simple task of running out the clock and retiring from the field with the victory.
The Tsunami defence had other ideas. On Kent’s first play of the drive Brighton swarmed the ball carrier instantaneously driving him back to the brink of the Falcons end zone as they refused to give up on the game. On the Falcon’s next attempt a bevy of Tsunami players steamed through the line of scrimmage including Stewart Kidd who stuffed the ball carrier in the end zone to record a safety and give Tsunami’s offence one more chance with the score line poised at 13-8.
Kent’s defence stood firm for the final time as the Tsunami tried everything to break through for the winning score. Jake Beale put in a valiant effort connecting on a short pass with Nathan Crossman who ghosted past 2 players before smartly bolting out of bounds stopping the clock and keeping the hope alive for the home team. Ultimately though the imposed time limit proved to be too brief for the desperate offense and as Simeon Marriot-Dixon bravely tried to get out of bounds following his own reception, time expired.
Kent improves to 2-0 and will see themselves as favourites to join the Hertfordshire Hurricanes as the 2 representatives from the SEC in the national playoffs at the seasons end. The loss leaves Brighton’s playoff hopes in tatters at 1-2. However as results across the league show the South Eastern Conference is fiercely competitive this year, so they will remain optimistic after almost stunning a Kent outfit who were ranked #19 in the country coming into the game.
The plusses to draw from the game for Brighton are numerous as the defence continues to star living up to and exceeding pre-season expectations. The offense continue to prove extremely potent by moving the ball at will against respectable defensive units but will stress execution and discipline in the red zone this week as they look to prepare for their 4th game in 4 weeks against the Greenwich Mariners this Sunday. The Mariners crushed Kings College 32-0 on Sunday and will travel to the Falmer campus riding high on the back of such a dominating victory to face a desperate Tsunami team who will certainly be coming out all guns blazing as they look to resurrect their post season hopes by knocking off the Challenge Trophy winners from 2 years ago.
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