Trojans Weather the Storm Pt 2

The West Coast Trojans travelled to Dundee with what was their lowest number of players in their short time playing ball.

With many players missing through injury it looked like it was going to be Dundee's day and after the Hurricanes took a 13-0 lead midway through the 2nd quarter, things were looking bad for the Scottish Champions.

But showing grit and determination the Trojans fought their way back into the game running out 20-13 winners at the end.

On what can only be described as beautiful but windy conditions the Hurricanes received the opening kick off but were forced to go three and out giving the ball to the Trojans.

On the Trojans first play however QB Gary McNey handed the ball straight back to them when he fumbled the first snap which Dundee recovered deep into Trojans territory.

It was not long before the Hurricanes were knocking at the Trojans door when Hurricanes player coach Alex Brannan playing QB for the day, saw daylight through the line and carried the ball home from 12 yards out for the go ahead score, the point after was succesful giving the Hurricanes a 7-0 lead.

Both teams were finding the sometimes gale force winds hard to cope with forcing many changes of possession.

Midway through the 2nd quarter and with Dundee looking at a 4th and long yardage situation inside Trojans territory Brannon decided to go for it launching a ball deep down field, two Trojans DBs jumped for the ball to break up the pass but only managed to deflect the ball into the grateful arms of Dundee wideout Niakate Mahamadou-Lamine who gladly took the pig skin in for the home sides 2nd score of the day and a 13-0 lead.

For the third time in as many weeks the Trojans found themselves chasing the game but on receiving the kick off WR David Pasnik returned the ball to the halfway line, followed by some great runs from both QB Gary McNey and RB Jordan Falconer marching the ball down to the Hurricanes 7 yards line.

Then on 4th and goal QB McNey found target man Mark Squires for the touchdown. The big wide receiver then hauled in the 2 point conversion bringing the Trojans right back into the game with the score now 13-8.

The Trojans hard hitting defence were now starting to stamp their authority on the game and forced the Hurricanes to punt giving the Trojans another chance before the break to take the lead.

However after a good drive taking the Trojans inside the Hurricanes red-zone the Hurricanes defence held firm giving the home team a well deserved 13-8 score line at the half.

The Trojans started the 3rd quarter were they left off in the 2nd and from their own 30 yards line marched the ball downfield deep into Hurricanes territory but for the 2nd time in the game McNey gifted the Hurricanes a present when his fumble was recovered by Dundee.

After trading punts the Trojans offence took over and it was not long, after some great runs by Falconer, that the Trojans were again inside the Hurricanes red-zone and when after calling a play-action McNey made no mistake and hit American WR David Panic from 15 yards for the go ahead score giving the Trojans a 14-13 lead going into the final period.

The 4th quarter started much the same as the 3rd but the responsibility for keeping the Hurricanes at bay fell to defensive player / coach David Duffy, with the Linebacker marshalling his troops to stop Dundee making any progress while recording 6 solo tackles, 6 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery and holding Dundee to under 100 yards total offence.

With seven minutes in the game remaining the Trojans took over at midway and on the first play from scrimmage RB Jordan Falconer who finished with 175 rushing yards sprinted off-tackle and took the ball 47 yards for the score giving the Trojans a 20-13 lead.

With time not on their side and their running game not working effectively enough the Hurricanes came out with their spread receiver set but Trojans rookie defensive back Brian McFerren intercepted Brannan giving the ball back to the Trojans with only four minutes left to play.

However the Hurricanes were not finished yet and some strong defence saw them force the Trojans to punt but with time running out the Hurricanes offence turned the ball over again on downs, and after a couple of first downs the Trojans ran out the clock giving them a hard fought 20-13 win and the top spot on the Scottish Division 2 table.

Trojans HC/QB Gary McNey commented...
"We new this was going to be a really hard game as we were missing a numbert of guys today but credit to my guys for hanging in their and getting us the win"

"Dundee are a very hard team to break down, especially on defence were they made it really hard for us to score when inside their red-zone.”