BUAFL PLAY OFFS ROUND ONE
Stallions Dominate The Cougars

The Staffordshire Stallions advance into the second round of the BUAFL Playoffs after convincingly beating the number seven seeds the University of Teesside Cougars 57-6 on Sunday.

Running Back Edem Goka scored five touchdowns on the ground, with George Furlonge and Graham Roberts adding additional runs for scores, while Ben Rowan connected with returning Tight End Chris Ward with five seconds remaining in the first half for a passing touchdown. UT got a touchdown with five minutes remaining in second quarter aiming to get back into the game, but two more touchdowns before the break from Staffordshire effectively ended the first round contest.

The Stallions now face number four seeds the Leeds Celtics, a team that they beat 6-0 two years ago in a defensive battle at the Stables, while top seed Newcastle host Nottingham in the other Northern Semi Final contest on March 9.

Staffordshire got the points on the board on the first offensive play after strong swirling winds resulted in a bad punt after UT went three and out on their first possession.

Running Back Edem Goka took a handoff from Ben Rowan to follow his blocking to the right of the line before turning up field and using his speed to get away from the ensuing Teesside pack for a 27-yard touchdown. With three minutes left in the first, Goka again found himself celebrating in the end zone, this time with a run to the left from 26-yards out to complete the longest drive of the game of 75 yards.

The Stallions increased the lead in the early stages of the second. George Furlonge drove in from two yards out to make it 19-0 as James Walker added a two point conversion.

Five minutes later, Goka went in from 11- yards out on the only play of the drive after a bad snap on a punt was recovered by Andy Brannigan.

With the Stallions winning comfortably and not looking at giving up any lead that the team had managed to gain over Teesside, Staffordshire started to self destruct in a five minute spell that saw them concede for the first time at the Stables this season.

With UT having to go for it on fourth and long, Ward managed to get to the quarterback, bringing him down for the sack, However a personal foul penalty on Brannigan for unnecessary roughness gave the Cougars an first down when the Stallions offense should have been walking out onto the field to begin a drive on the Cougar 25, but instead Umpire Charles Dean-Young placed the ball on the 40 with the ball still in the hands of the Cougar offence.

With the run being contained by the front eight of the Stallions and the score already 28-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the half, Teesside scored on a 60-yard pass giving the North East team a small glimmer of hope of turning the deficit around.

The glimmer of hope faded instantly the next time Goka touch the ball as the rookie back went in for his longest touchdown run of the season from 87-yards out to restore the lead. With two personal foul penalties after the play as frustration crept in and Stallions retaliated Goka went in untouched for the two point conversion from 15-yards out.

Staffordshire had one more attempt to put the game away before the half after Roberts intercepted the Cougar quarterback for 11-yards with just over two minutes remaining.

James Walker caught a third down pass tipping the ball in the air before adjusting and coming down with the ball to give the Stallions a first down at the nine. Then two plays later, Ward got into the end zone on his return from a thumb injury.

Quarterback Ben Rowan, who has yet to be sacked in the previous eight games, managed to shake of the Cougar pass rusher before finding Ward on a short route, who then dived spectacularly into the end zone after good blocking by James Walker.

The Stallions had been dominating in the first 30 minutes. Everything on both sides of the ball worked perfectly and stunned a shell shocked Cougar team who must have been wondered what they had done to deserve to be on the receiving end of the 43-6 halftime score line.

Ben Rowan managed to find his receivers when throwing into the wind, while the Cougar run defence had no answer to stop the lightning quick Goka and the phenomenal run blocking of the Stallions line and wide receiving core. While the Stallion defence had shut down the run game and created four turnovers in the first half with Brannigan recovering two fumbles and Roberts and Gary Richardson intercepting the ball.

Goka finished with 333 yards on 17 carries for five touchdowns and Quarterback Rowan was 5 for 9, 67 yards and 1 touchdown.

Goka and Roberts completed the scoring in the second half with a 50 yard run and a 6 yard run respectively as the Stallions can turn their attention to BUAFL’s meanest defence, the Leeds Celtics, who in the regular season conceded only 7 points in the defeat to Sheffield, the team they beat in the playoffs, 19-12 yesterday.

MVP's: Rookie: Carl Sharp, Defensive: George Furlonge, Offensive: Edem Goka, Game: Graham Roberts

Sunday, March 2nd