CALLY CRUISE IN SEASON OPENER

British College Gridiron League 2006/7

Caledonian Roughriders shuffled off those preseason cobwebs and got their new campaign off to the best possible start with a well deserved victory over the Sunderland Kings.

In what turned out to be a hard fought defensive battle, it was the Scots that had the offensive edge over the visitors courtesy of touchdowns from Fraser Campbell and Ryan McCluskey

And even though Sunderland made the Scots work for their points, they offered next to nothing in attack posing little threat inside the Cally redzone throughout the whole game.

With the talk of a brave new world being talked down south about concerning the future of American Football in the UK, it was back to the world of reality north of the border as the Roughriders kicked of their new season, in the King George V Playing Fields at Renfrew.

However with the usual new additions to their line up, the new look Roughriders took to the field complete with new look strip for the 2006/7 season.

Optimism was high on the Roughriders side line prior to the start of the game.

And that optimism appeared to be justified when the Roughriders turned over possession on the opening drive after just two plays when Paul Entrican recovered a fumble.

However the Scots failed to capitalise on their early opportunity but had more success after turning over Sunderland on their next possession.

The visitors appeared to be holding off the Scots but the breakthrough came on a fourth down attempt when Quarterback Lewis Cameron handed the ball to Fraser Campbell, who found a gap down the near side, sprinting home with little resistance for the opening score.

The Roughriders then stretched their lead when Cameron nailed a precision pass through the middle to Ryan McCluskey.

But any thoughts of the Kings hitting back were quickly put to rest when they went 3 and out on their next drive and punting the ball back to Cally.

The visiting defense continued to hand their offense opportunities to get back into the game forcing a turnover early in the second quarter.

But after a lack lustre drive, the first of a number of botched punt attempts handed the Roughriders great field position.

Then after managing to avoid another turnover, the Roughriders converted another crucial fourth down attempt when Cameron, under heavy pressure did well to fire a lob to McCluskey for another touchdown.

Sunderland failed to mount another effective response and soon found themselves in trouble again when Ritchie Mail pulled in a one handed interception, returning the ball all the way back to the Kings endzone.

However the score was chalked off for a block in the back penalty but they still earned the turnover with the Sunderland endzone still very much in their sights.

The visiting defense stood their ground once again, forcing the Scots to go for another fourth down attempt but the pass fell incomplete.

The turnovers continued when Ross Graham made another interception for the Roughriders, but the drive stalled once again, bringing a lacklustre end to the second quarter.

In what was a dull third quarter, the only dramatic point came when Cally had one of their players needlessly ejected following two successive unsportsmanlike penalties.

The final period saw the defensive trade off continued with Cally’s best chance coming in the final minutes of the game when Cameron fired a pass to the diving McCluskey with the ball bouncing off his fingertips inside the endzone