London Varsity Series 2020: AMERICAN FOOTBALL

On the evening of 7^th of March the KCL regents met the UCL Emperors for another edition of the American football varsity game. The game was action packed from the start with UCL kicking off and intercepting the ball back within two plays thanks to a wayward pass by Regents quarterback Ivan Harrington. However, after UCL failed to gain any yards with the running game, their attempted pass was easily intercepted back by an attentive Regents secondary. From the outset KCL showed faith in their running backs by playing a largely running game, however the UCL defence were up to the challenge and the gains were limited. Eventually after a 4^th down punt by the Regents the emperors converted their possession into points with a drive built on Quaterback Luke James’ intelligently picked out pass for a 50 yard gain and some good work by the Emperor’s offensive line. This left only inches to the goal line, with another short pass leading to the first touchdown. The first quarter finished uneventfully with the Regents attempting to run the ball again and failing to make significant yardage.

The second quarter began badly for the Regents with a ferocious drive from the emperors, built on the impressive rushing play of Luke James. A final running play within inches of the goal line led to another touchdown, where again the conversion was failed. The subsequent kick off saw a much needed excellent return by the Regents of about 45 yards, putting their offence in good stead. The Regents finally attempted a pass which was incomplete with 3 further running plays leading to a turnover. The emperor’s QB was soon again at fault however with a stray pass cleverly intercepted by the Regents defence. In the subsequent drive the regents finally found some passing success with their first completed pass for a gain of 15 yards. For the rest of the half possession was again exchanged a number of times, with the Emperor’s defense making another interception. On the verge of half time the emperors were undertaking another drive which saw an extraordinary diving catch by a receiver – only for their momentum to be stifled by Half Time.

The second half began with the emperors kicking off and the Regents in turn falling back on the running game, even riskily running on 4^th down – leading to a turnover. The emperors embarked on another drive built on a passing game, even reaping the rewards of risking a pass on 4^th down to get a 1^st down and maintain possession. UCL were inches from the goal, when they attempted a pass on 4^th down which was again incomplete. The Regents then proceeded to have one of the best attacking phases of their evening with an excellent long range pass for first down from Ivan, followed by a further running play and rush for first down. However this petered out with the Regents QB being sacked on the subsequent third down and possession being lost altogether in the 4^th down. Eventually after another successful passing drive the Emperor’s scored another touchdown making the score an unfortunate 18-0.

The rest of the game was largely uneventful with the Emperors trying to run down the clock through being conservative with their play. Though the score line may suggest a largely one sided encounter the Regents did show sparks of brilliance through running back Sean Seeds and some of the excellent receptions from the wide receivers. The defense were unfortunately lacking at times with only 1 sack. The Man of the Match was Emperors QB Luke James who had a fantastic game all round through both his rushing and passing.