Yorkshire Rams

53

FINAL

Sun 29 Jul 2018

0

Glasgow Tigers

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Matt Fox and Faheem Hasan scored their first career touchdowns in a comfortable win over the Glasgow Tigers on Sunday which kept the Rams’ play-off hopes alive for at least another week.

Elliot Jackson, above, ran in two of the Rams’ seven scores at John Charles Stadium to leave the visitors facing a miserable long journey back to Scotland.

There were also touchdowns for wide receivers Christian Davies and Spencer Whybrow as Dan Haywood threw for four scores - although the quarterback started the scoring with his legs.

Facing fourth and goal at the Glasgow four-yard line, head coach David Pawson left his offence on the field and Haywood faked the hand-off to running back Keimar Stuart before taking off on a bootleg run and diving for the pylon, above.

Fox, below, then got on the board for not only his first touchdown but, having switched from defence last season to play as a primarily blocking full-back, his first catch in the National League. With receivers open across the field, Fox may actually have been the least obvious read but Haywood dropped a perfect ball over his shoulder for a 33-yard touchdown which Jeff Quartey converted.

James Hudson’s interception ensured the next score was not long in coming. The gangly linebacker was stopped short of the end zone but running back Jackson finished the job and Quartey’s kick made it 20-0.

The two teams exchanged turnovers before Jackson tip-toed down the left sideline for a 28-yard touchdown, brilliantly converted when Lil Bush’s pass was tipped by a defender but Christian Davies adjusted to make the catch on the ground for two points.

It was the first of several big plays for the Rams’ number one receiver, none more so than when Haywood hit him in stride on a deep post route for a 33-yard TD, making the score 35-0 after Quartey’s third successful kick out of four.

There was time for one more before half-time as Hasan took another Haywood pass and turned for goal, ensuring he was on the right side of the Tigers tackler who could only slam him into the end zone. Quartey improved to 80 per cent with the boot and the Rams headed back to the dressing room with a 42-point lead.

That meant that as in the previous game against the Leeds Bobcats, the running clock was in play for the entirety of the second half which limited the scoring opportunities.

Haywood hit the wide open Whybrow for the seventh touchdown of the game, with some strong blocking on the two-point attempt ensuring Jackson strolled in untouched to bring up the half-century.

The only further score came via a 35-yard Rams field goal, with the more powerful leg of kick-off specialist Hudson preferred to that of Quartey to complete a 53-0 win.

The resulting 5-3 record keeps the Rams in contention with upcoming opponents the Lancashire Wolverines for the second play-off place - only victory in Preston on Sunday would be enough to take the battle down to the last game of the regular season.

Rams MVPs

Pictures by Alex Daniel - alexdanielphotos.co.uk/