Lancashire Wolverines 45 - 7 Yorkshire Rams

Tue Jun 16 2015

The second War of the Roses game of the season at Ramsgreave Drive was played in much better weather than the previous season, which both sets of players will have been delighted about.

With the Rams struggling to put points on the board and Lancashire having already scored 50 against them in the home game, some critics had given this game to the Wolverines without it being played but without starting QB, David Mead and a very early injury to the backup quarterback meant that some adjustments had to be made by the home side.

Lancashire thought they’d put themselves up by a touchdown as Sam Bloomfield, stepping in as QB ran the ball into the endzone from halfway but a penalty brought the Wolverines back and they had to settle for a field goal. A fumble on the first play of the Rams drive wasn’t an ideal start and through a lot of running, the home side found themselves 9-0 up. Few would have been surprised if the score would have continued to rise in Lancashire’s favour but the Rams performed much better than of late and held them to that score for a while.

The Rams would get themselves on the board when a wayward snap went straight over the head of both quarterback Mark Gaze and running back Daunte Wint-Angus but as a pack of Wolverines swarmed to the ball, a fortunate bounce and some excellent handling gave the ball straight back to the pacey running back and he avoided the first few tackles and went the distance to make it 9-6. Charlie Vincent added the extra point and the Rams were within two points.

The home side would stretch their lead to 12-7 with a field goal after some great work to stop the Lancs offense from moving the ball on 3rd down but a bad pass deep in Rams territory would get picked off and returned for another TD for the Wolverines and they would go in at half time with a 19-7 lead which was perhaps a tad harsh on a good Rams first half performance.

Coming out for the second half, the Wolverines started passing the ball more often and were quickly on the scoreboard again, when a short pass was completed in the endzone. Leading 25-7, Lancashire would then force a fumble and fall on it for another touchdown and the close scoreline was slowly becoming stretched.

Lancashire would add another touchdown on a run play and then, in a repeat of the game in Leeds, the Wolverines’ special teams would block a punt and fall on it for a final touchdown to make the final score 45-7 to the home side.

Things don’t get much easier for the Rams as they face Tamworth and East Kilbride in their next two games but they will be happy to be back on home soil having not played there since the first Roses match at the beginning of May.

Images courtesy of Lancashire Academy of American Football