The Rams completed the double over the Sheffield Giants with a comprehensive 35-0 shutout at Norton Sports Park, extending their winning streak to five games with another ruthless road performance. Quarterback Michael Rojas was the star of the show, rushing for three touchdowns and throwing for another as the Yorkshire offence clicked into gear after a cagey opening quarter.

The Giants won the toss and elected to receive but went three-and-out on their first possession, punting deep into Rams territory. The Rams responded by running the ball, but Rojas was stuffed on a quarterback sneak on third down and Dan Haywood punted it back into the Giants’ half. Sheffield put together a promising drive with a big play getting them close to the red zone, but Tyler Broad forced a fumble to kill the momentum and hand the ball back to the Rams.

Nathaniel Wyse sparked the offence into life with a big run that took the Rams to midfield, and he picked up another first down to keep the chains moving. Sensing an opportunity to get on the board early, the Rams sent Trishmpriyo Sarkar out for a 53-yard field goal attempt, but the kick fell short. The Giants took over on good field position and drove to a third-and-short situation, only for Nathaniel Derrick to deliver a thumping tackle that forced a fourth down. Sheffield attempted a quarterback sneak of their own, but the Rams defence held firm.

The first quarter ended scoreless, but the Rams were about to blow the game open. A Giants defender wearing number three jumped the toss play and stripped the ball, giving Sheffield possession at midfield. The turnover mattered little, however, as Broad stepped in front of a pass from the Giants quarterback and picked it off, returning the interception to inside the 10-yard line. Rojas wasted no time in punching it in on a run, and Sarkar added the extra point to make it 7-0.

The Giants went three-and-out once again and punted, with Broad providing a strong return into Sheffield territory. Rojas threw an interception on second down, but the Rams got the ball straight back when a backwards pass from the Giants was fumbled and recovered by Kelvin Newsome. Iuri Pina took advantage of the short field and ran the ball in for the touchdown. The PAT was good to extend the lead to 14-0.

Sheffield were forced to punt yet again, with Derrick fielding the kick and returning it well despite fumbling and recovering in the process. Rojas connected with Haywood to move the chains, and then unleashed a long pass downfield to Matt Snell that put the Rams inside the 10-yard line. Rojas finished the drive himself, powering into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon. Sarkar’s PAT was good to make it 21-0 at the half.

The Giants produced a long kickoff return deep into Rams territory to open the second half, but a deep pass was picked off by Broad for his second interception of the game. The Rams started the half passing well, with Rojas finding Iby Sardar, Faheem Hasan and Snell for completions, but the drive stalled and the Rams settled for a field goal attempt that was blocked with Sarkar kicking. Sheffield were forced to punt once more, and the Rams drove back into Giants territory on a Rojas scramble. This time the quarterback made no mistake, throwing a strike to Snell in the end zone for the touchdown. Robbie Green converted the PAT to push the lead to 28-0.

Jonny Gritt picked off the Giants on the very next drive, and a long pass from Rojas to Haywood nearly reached the end zone as the third quarter came to a close. Rojas opened the fourth quarter by sneaking it in for his third rushing touchdown of the game, with Green adding the PAT to make it 35-0. The Giants went for it on fourth and long from deep in their own territory and turned the ball over on downs. Rojas narrowly missed on a deep ball to Sardar but connected with Matt Fox on a scramble play on third down to pick up another set of first downs. The drive ultimately ended with a missed field goal from Green.

Sheffield fumbled on the very next play and Daniel Barker pounced on the loose ball to recover for the Rams as the clock wound down and the final whistle sealed a comfortable 35-0 victory.

The dominant shutout moves the Rams to 6-1 on the season and keeps up the pressure on the Newcastle Vikings at the top of the NFC 1 North. The Rams return home to West Leeds RUFC on 5 July for a crucial top-of-the-table clash with the Vikings.