The Rams made their long-awaited return to John Charles Stadium this weekend, backing up last week’s dominant performance with another convincing victory.
A common theme that had carried over from their away trip to Doncaster was the dominance of the defence, putting pressure on their opponents, Humber Warhawks, who were coming into this game 2-0 with two impressive performances of their own.
After forcing the visitors to punt on two consecutive possessions, the Rams took over, with Josh Green taking control of the offence for the first time this season, after a knee dislocation ruled out starting QB Joe Mills in the Doncaster game.
Any pre-game nerves Green may have had were non-existent come game time as he moved his team downfield confidently, finishing their second series off with a floated touchdown pass to Joey McEntee who ran his route to perfection.
A crushing tackle from Steven Godward forced a turnover and the Rams gained possession back quickly. Green would then go in for his own touchdown on a QB run from the 3-yard line; set up by a barnstorming run from Spencer Hind on the play prior.
Not content with one passing and one rushing touchdown in the first half, Green showed off his arm again, floating another pass to another receiver running a perfect route, this time Brad Crisp with the grab.
Unwilling to be outdone by their offence, the Rams defence forced another punt from the Humber 5-yard line but instead of a return, they sent the house after the punter. After a thunderous pancake block from lineman Adam Cowley, fresh from his three turnover game the week before, he found himself gratefully receiving the ball after the kick was blocked by George Dimopoulos and darted over the line for another Rams score.
Coming out for the second half, the hosts were 28-0 up but the Warhawks were not deterred, making a change at QB, they became more of a running threat and a sprint to the right hand side, followed by an acrobatic hurdle saw Rich Adepoju go 50 yards for a Warhawks score.
The Rams would have the final say however, in a play that would be more fitting in a Matrix film than on the gridiron, as Tyler Broad caught the ball amongst a mass of Warhawks players, only to see him sidestep and fend his way through them all to score the final touchdown of the game, with the score finishing 36-6 to the Rams.
Head Coach Jason Shaw said: "Another great performance from our defence set the tone for the day. Despite the ridiculous temperatures in the stadium, both teams put an outstanding amount of effort in and produced a good game of football.
All our rookies got time out on the field and did themselves proud. They have earned the right to play and did a good job when called upon.
I am very proud of the players' decision to take the knee this weekend - Will J in particular for raising the subject - in solidarity with the fight against racial inequality. I’d like to extend my personal thanks to the Humber Warhawks for joining us, and of course, the officials for supporting the request"
MVP Awards
- Offensive: Josh Green
- Defensive: Steven Godward
- Special Teams: Adam Cowley
- Ram of the Day: George Dimopoulos
All images from Alex Daniel.