SCOTTISH CLAYMORES 48 |
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F.C.BARCELONA DRAGONS 7 |
MINIESTADI SATURDAY 31ST MAY 2003 |
Another win was needed in Barcelona to keep the World Bowl hopes alive and a win by more than seven points would let the Claymores own the tiebreak over the Dragons The Claymores took the opening drive and marched down the field with Hicks Minardi and McCready all contributing. A run by Hicks took the ball to the Dragons seven then Nall under pressure tossed a shovel pass to Hicks who stormed into the endzone to open the scoring. Hart booted the PAT and the Claymores were in front. A great series by the Defence including a sack each for Bingham and Lockhart forced the Dragons to punt and after a slight scare when a potential fumble was called incomplete, Simonton drove the team up the field. Nall then capped the drive with a perfect pass to Minardi from 24 yards over a defenders head in the endzone and Hart obliged again with the extra point. Barcelona were forced to punt again and Nall found Simonton with a 32 yard swing pass as the second quarter began, Malan then rumbled to the three yard line then created a massive hole the next play for Hicks to dive in untouched for this second score of the day, Hart kicked the extra point again to put the Claymores 21 points in front. The Dragons punted again and Stafford took over from Nall with the ball on the Claymores 5 yard line. Simonton and Hicks took the ball to midfield then Bright snagged a pass at the Dragons 15. A pass interference call put the ball on the 6 then Stafford scrambled and rolled right before tossing the ball to Scott Couper in the endzone for his 100th career reception. Hart again made it 28 to zip and the Claymores were in total command. Lockhart chipped in with a sack as the Dragons continued to splutter and punted yet again. Stafford then scrambled up the middle to the Dragons 30 then fired a perfect pass to Minardi with less than a minute left in the game for his second TD of the game. A Hart PAT made the half time score 35 to 0 for the dominating Claymores who only allowed an incredible 7 yards against them in the first 30 minutes. The Claymores defense were also on fire as the second half began , sacks by Lockhart and Ward put the ball back in Nalls hands and he hit Simonton on another swing pass to midfield then a fantastic catch by Shepherd placed the dall on the 3. Simonton then swept right and strolled in for his 8th rushing TD of the season, a new Claymores record. The Dragons started to finally move the ball but massive sacks by firstly Landry then Flickinger forced them to turn the ball over on downs. Hicks then moved the ball down the field and Stafford hit Minardi in the endzone but the ball popped loose so Rob Hart trotted on to boot a 36 yard field goal and pad the lead to 48 points. Credit to the Dragons who never gave up and weer rewarded on the games final drive when Finlen took advantage of soft coverage and hit Parker for a score and avoid the shutout. The first half of football by this Claymores team was as perfect and as one sided as you could ever hope for, Nall ended the game with an almost unheard of 158.3 quarterback rating and the defence chipped in with an incredible 8 sacks. The World Bowl is still a distinct possibility but help is needed from other teams, hopefully next weeks game at Hampden against Amsterdam will be a "win and we're in" situation. |
