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Longhorns First Home Game Ends In Controversy The Longhorns hosted Leeds Varsity Bobcats at Beltane on Saturday for their first home league game of the season. Leeds arrived with a 2-0 record and quickly put points on the board with 2 touchdowns in the opening 5 minutes, the second of which came off a pass interception during the Longhorns first possession. The Longhorns replied with a drive back down the field spearheaded by Andrew Steen, who after carrying the ball for 40 yards rushing finished off with a 14 yard TD reception from QB Ally Ferguson. On Leeds following possession a fumble recovery by Calum Wallace returned the ball to the Longhorns at their own 10 yard line. After a short gain by Steen, the Longhorns drew the score level with a blistering 89 yard touchdown reception from wide receiver Matthew Kennedy.
The two teams then exchanged punts to bring an action packed first
quarter to a close. Unfortunately Kyle Grier, who leads the
Longhorns in tackles, left the game midway through the quarter with
a dislocated shoulder. Leeds added to their score early in the second quarter after recovering a fumble at the Longhorns 11 yard line, but did not manage to convert the attempted PAT.
On their next possession the Longhorns came close to levelling the
score again, after Ferguson combined with both Steen and Kennedy to
complete a 55 yard drive which took them to the Leeds 5', only to
lose the ball through a fumble as the first half came to a close. The second half started with both defences standing firm and forcing punts which found the Longhorns in possession on their own 5 yard line.
Ferguson again led a steady drive with 4 first downs and a total of
65 yards gained by Steen and Kennedy. An incomplete pass handed
possession back to Leeds at their own 30, but some tough defence
featuring the combined tackling of Mark Smith, Stevie Munro and Sean
Fallan limited the Leeds progress to 28 yards before the end of the
quarter. After the strong display in the 3rd, the Longhorns started the 4th Quarter with a real belief that they could pull the Bobcats back on level terms. Leeds however, started as they had the 1st with a quick TD drive, but once again failed to convert on the PAT attempt. The Longhorns showed their spirit once more as Andrew Steen forced the offence forward, picking his way through the Leeds defence behind the blocking of Scott Frame, Anthony Dougan and Ben Filmer, and finishing the drive with a 39 yard TD reception from Ferguson to close the gap to 6 points. Kennedy's 3rd PAT conversion left the Longhorns needing only one score to pull ahead of the Bobcats after trailing for the whole game, and the defence went about ensuring this on Leeds' next possession. Fallan and Kennedy stopped the Leeds KO return at the 34'. A penalty flag loss of yards followed by a typically crunching tackle from Munro in the backfield pinned Leeds back towards their own endzone. David McInally followed up with another strong hit for a Leeds total loss of 12 yards on the possession, but their following punt only made it as far as their own 48'. The Longhorns failed to take advantage of their next possession and had to punt, but McInally again produced the stop which kept the Leeds return only as far as the 15 yard line. With the tension building and the onlooking spectators sensing a possible turnaround the Longhorns defence again stepped up to the plate.
More tough hitting by Smith and Wallace prevented the run making any
progress, and when Leeds turned to their passing attack this too was
limited to only 5 yards by another tough stop from corner back, Marc
Reilly. Leeds elected to punt on 4th down and the Longhorns resumed
possession, again at the Leeds 48'. Sensing an opportunity, Ferguson and Steen combined to gain the first 10 yards on the ground. The potential winning score was now in the Longhorns grasp and with less than 2 minutes remaining Coach Clee went to the "Hurry Up" Offence to try and seal the points. With a short pass to Steen, Ferguson made up 4 yards but then lost it again after being sacked on the second play of the series. Ferguson then pulled the yards back with a 13 yard pass to Steen who was stopped at the Leeds 26' for a first down, or so everyone on the Longhorns thought. Ferguson went to no huddle to try and force the ball into the endzone before the clock expired but his next pass fell incomplete.
Head Coach Orr then had to seek a conference with the Referee after
the incomplete pass was ruled a 4th down attempt and possession
given back to Leeds. Despite the Longhorns challenge, the decision
stood and Leeds proceeded to run down the game clock to finish the
match 28-24 to the Bobcats. |
