SCOTTISH CLAYMORES 27 |
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FRANKFURT GALAXY 33 OT |
WALDSTADION SATURDAY 10TH MAY 2003 |
Frankfurt kicked off this vital game and after a good return from Rooths, Nall went to work and Simonton started moving the ball on the Galaxy defense. With the ball on their own 42 Nall called a reverse and Hicks evaded a tackle in the backfield and scampered down the left sideline to open the scoring. Hart added the extra point and the Claymores were in front. Galaxy went three and out on their firs possession ans another fine drive by Nall ended when he threw a screen pass to Simonton and he took the ball all the way for a 37 yard score, again the PAT was good and the huge Galaxy following were silenced. Galaxy QB, James Brown was sacked by Bingham and the ball popped out Keys recovered and Stafford came into the game for Nall, he couldnt move the ball and Galaxy took advantage when Brown hit a wide open Baker for their first score of the game, the extra point sailed wide and the Claymores were up by 8. Stafford then directed a nice drive with a good mix of run and pass and with the Claymores on the Galaxy 10 Stafford found a diving McCready in the endzone to pad the score., Hart tacked on the PAT and the score at the half was the Claymores in front 21-6. Galaxy punted on their first possession and Nall moved deep inside Frankfurt territory helped by a 50 hook up with Shepherd but disaster struck with the Claymores on the 23, a pass by Nall was tipped at the line and intercepted. Brown took advantage and shredded the Claymores secondary and finished the drive off with a 7 yard touchdown pass to eat into the Claymores lead. Nall was picked off the very next drive deep in Claymores territory but were not made to pay as Hillbert hooked a 34 yard chip shot wide. Nall found McCready for a 44 yard gain and moved again to within scoring range but a Rob Hart effort from 39 yards was wide. Brown again went to the air and had the Claymores on their heels, he moved the ball 70 yards and found Lester from 7 yards out for another TD. Lewis ran in the two point conversion and a game that seemed out of reach for the Galaxy was now tied. The offence marched the ball down the field again the Nall hit Minardi with a 15 yard score but Rob Hart missed the first extra point of his career and the margin was 6 points. Both teams traded punts and with under two minutes remaining Quin Gray took over from Brown and he too moved the ball, capping an impressive drive with a 12 yard TD pass to Lester to tie the game. Under a minute remained but Kleinmann's attempt at a game winning PAT was thwarted when the snap was bobbled..so we were heading for overtime. The Claymores won the toss and recieved the ball but couldnt move it , Gray took adavantage of the poor Scots secondary and tiring defensive live and from the Claymores 48 he found Lester who spun out of FIVE tackles to score and win the game for the Galaxy. A crazy, crazy game which read like a Disney Sports film script...a game that was thrown away with poor tackling and debatable coaching decisions. the road to the WorldBowl has just hit a massive tailback |
