The last game of the regular season is here. We go into this game with a playoff berth already secured. But a win here would crown us SFC 1 East Champions and give us home field advantage in the Quarter Finals next Sunday. The Blitz B, on the other hand, have nothing to lose. If they can get an upset here, it will be a very proud scalp for them to take.
Q1
We receive the ball from the kick off. Tyrik Taylor returns the ball to the Blitz 45 yard line. QB Mark Rivett passes to Thabiso Mpofu who runs another 45 yards for a touchdown with less than a minute played. The PAT is no good. Cats 6 – Blitz B 0. Blitz start their drive from their 28 yard line. They are forced to punt, but the kicker is hit after the ball got away. That’s a 5 yard penalty to be added to the distance of the punt. We take possession on our 35 yard line. Kayode Dennis catches the pass on 3rd and long and gets another set of downs. But the ball is fumbled on the next play and recovered by the Blitz B defence. Our defence holds strong and the Blitz B offence go for it on 4th down. Dan Smith and Mikey McLaughlin secure the edge and tackle the running back for a loss. Turnover on downs. Clayton Latimer carries the ball and charges through like a raging bull for the first down. Riv then finds Kay in the end zone for a passing touchdown. Will kicks a good PAT. Cats 13 – Blitz B 0. The Blitz B offence aren’t able to move the ball and punt it away. It’s back and forth as both defences keep their opponents in check.
Q2
Clayton breaks the stalemate with back to back first down runs. He gets great field position for Riv to go back to the air, this time finding Tyrik for the touchdown. The PAT is no good this time. Cats 19 – Blitz B 0. The Blitz B offence can’t seem to catch a break as Crig Pike recovers a fumbled ball. Andy Evans receives the ball in wide open space and is able to get a first down. Kay then makes a monster of play and tears off another 35 yards. Andy steps up for another carry and secures another 1st down. Kay gets the pass from Riv, he spins once, twice, three times to shake defenders loose before scoring another touchdown. The PAT is batted down by a defender who is then able to run on a gather the bouncing football. He’s off to the races with Neil Dempsey in hot pursuit. Neil reached out and his prey with a horse collar tackle. It prevents the score but gets 15 yards added to the next play. Cats 25 – Blitz B 0. The Blitz B offence are starting to gather some momentum. But Maleek Addae puts a pin in it with an interception. However, we can’t move the ball much further and punt. This time it’s Tom Mann with an interception. B ut the clock expires before we can score again.
Q3
Blitz B have the ball. Their drive doesn’t go too far for them. Riv finds Kay again who takes the ball into Blitz B territory. Riv then finds Thabiso Mpofu with the long bomb for a 46 yard passing touchdown. We go for 2 and Jimmy carries the ball in unopposed. Cats 33 – Blitz B 0. Still nothing doing for the Blitz B, but they are showing plenty of heart on this hot day. Riv takes a sack on this drive and is slow to get up. The Blitz now have the ball and a series of penalties push our defence back to our 19 yard line. But they stay strong and keep the Blitz B offence out of the end zone. Turnover on downs on our 19 yard line. T gets the carry and he takes past the 30 yard line, giving us room to breathe. But then Jimmy takes the ball another 43 yards to the Blitz B 15 yard line. He is brought down with an almost identical horse collar tackle, but there’s no laundry on the field. The Blitz intercept the pass on their 8 yard line. They are quickly forced to punt again.
Q4
Riv drives his offence deeper into Blitz territory. But he is strip sacked. The Blitz B defence scoops the ball and are making a break for our end zone. Ady Queripel catches up and tackles the would be scorer at our 18 yard line. Our defence valiantly stop another score with their backs against the wall. The Blitz B turn over on downs at our 4 yard line. But we don’t move the ball and the punt is fielded at midfield. The Blitz B offence finally has some good fortune and they score a passing touchdown. They go for 2 but it is no good. Cats 33 – Blitz 6. Kay responds immediately with another passing touchdown supplied by Riv. The 2 points are good as Riv finds Ben Bingham in the end zone for a pass. Cats 41 – Blitz 6. However, the Blitz are still playing aggressively. It pays off as they bag their second passing touchdown. They go for 2 points but it is no good again. Cats 41 – Blitz 12. The clock has been running so there’s nothing left for Steve Playford and his offence to do but knee and run out the last seconds of the game.
MVPs
Offence – Kayode Dennis
Defence – Ben Bailey
Special Teams – Maleek Addae
Game – Mark Rivett