MUGC News Edition 7

MUGC Royals v Geelong Buccaneers In the second game of the a ernoon, with the weather beginning to look ominous, the 19‐man Royals squad, devastated by injury, faced the undefeated Geelong Buccaneers. The sheer difference in squad size typified the daun ng task ahead.

The Buccaneers showed their strength and power on the kickoff with a massive 80‐yard return. On first and goal, the Buccaneers punched the ball into the end zone making it 7‐0. The Royals looked ra led early as a poor kick return was followed by bad snaps and nega ve plays. A sack on third and long resulted in a safety as the offensive line was overpowered in the wet condi ons.

The Royals could have easily dropped their heads a er a disastrous start but Daniel Griffin and Henry Wright made consecu ve highlight plays with big sacks on the Geelong quarterback. A er a big run on third and long, the Buccaneers converted a fourth and short to keep their second drive alive. Jonny Hockey, the ball‐hawking rookie, seemingly made another great play with an intercep on as the Buccaneers threatened, but penal es negated the play. On the very next play, Geelong took a 16‐0 lead.

Samuel Delai looked threatening in the return game but the Royals offense couldn’t capitalize on solid field posi on. On the following possession the Buccaneers converted their second fourth‐down of the game and scored through the air taking an overwhelming 23‐point lead in the first quarter.

The Royals offense began the following possession with promise. A great pass by Jonathan Chin to the consistent, Sam Temple gave the Royals a first down. Solid gains on the ground by Tokoa Samuel and J. Chin gave the Royals hope heading into the second quarter.

Unfortunately, the Royals most promising drive of the first half ended in a punt that pinned Geelong deep in their own territory. As the weather started to play a bigger role in the game both teams were forced to shrink their playbooks relying heavily on the ground game. Dominic Young was impressive filling gaps and regularly hal ng poten al rushes by the Buccaneers.

A confusing sequence a er a play was blown dead, resulted in a replayed down and the Buccaneers took advantage with rare success through the air. A well‐ med slant enabled an 80‐yard pass se ng up another Geelong score on the ground making it 30‐0.

The Royals managed li le on the following kick return and a costly fumble gi ed Geelong a first and goal. Despite impressive plays to stop the run, the Buccaneers could dominate the line of scrimmage when it ma ered most and soon the Royals were in a 37‐0 hole.