Hornets Vs Reapers: Week 6

Written by: Jamie Jenner

The previous encounter between the Reapers and the Hornets had to go into overtime with the Hornets getting that final crucial touchdown and winning the game. It is correct to say that the Reapers wanted to even that score.

With the Hornets lacking their sensational starting QB, Jordan Gallienne, it was up to both Luke Pattimore (Patti) and Sam Barrell (Baz) to hold the tide against the Reapers. Unfortunately for them, the Reapers were packing a full load with all 10 team members and their key receiver Matthew Jackson.

The Hornets started on offence with Baz throwing and it was clear they needed to get used to their new Quarterback. There were initially two very good Centre passes to Patti but then the next two passes were missed causing a turnover to the Reapers.

The Reapers started by testing the waters with one of their Running Backs, Craig Batiste, who unfortunately dropped the ball on handoff from Si King. However, he made up the next play by bringing the ball up to inches off the halfway line. As the running theme in this game, the next pass to Johan was unfortunately dropped, but Matthew Jackson was there on the 4th down to bring it up the pitch. The next play was a handoff to Matt, but he was stopped by both Jack Romeril (Rom) and James Alderton (Aldi) in a pincer movement. Unfortunately, the next play (a shovel pass) was called illegal by the referee, for not crossing the line of scrimmage, resulting in the Reapers having a 5 yard penalty. That did not stop them though with a handoff to Matt and then a pass to Matt which was run into the End Zone, bringing the score to 0 – 6. The conversion was made by Johan (making up for his previous drop) and the score was 0 – 7

The Hornets had decided to use the speed of their running back, Mikey Donaldson, to break through the Reapers defence. Mikey was able to bring the ball 15 yards up the pitch after an awful attempt at tackling by Jamie Jenner, and then make another run (that was missed again by Jamie) that brought the ball up another 30 yards. However, on that second run there was a false start which caused a 5 yard penalty. Unfortunately, the Hornets did not recover and they did not make it past the halfway line.

The Reapers aimed to tire out Craig Batiste with another run play which was stopped inches from the halfway line. To give Craig a break, a pass was make to Nick Schofield after long deliberation by Si King (QB) which was stopped 10 yards from the end zone. As the running plays seemed to be working, Si handed off the ball to Chunky (a.k.a. Robert Domaille) who was stopped instantly by Ron. The Hornets’ stepped their defence up a notch with a blitz from Baz that required Si to pass the ball to the ground (a usual throw). Nonetheless, Saad was there to save the day with a catch 5 yards from the end zone, but all was in vain when Baz intercepted a pass to Johan and caused the turnover.

A switch in Quarterback brought Patti into the spotlight. Initially a missed pass but then a blitz from Reapers caused an excellent centre pass to Baz which pushed the ball a quarter of the way up the field. The combination of Patti and Baz was a force to be reckoned with, with three more centre passes ending with the ball inches from the Reapers’ end zone. To mix things up, Rom was brought in as centre and was able to make a touchdown after stepping into the Reapers’ end zone and Patti underarming the ball to him. The conversion was unfortunately not made as the pass was inches away from Aldi’s hands. The score is now 6 -7.

There was one play from the Reapers and then halftime was called. The score was 6 -7.

 

Game Stats – Hornets
Passing
Player Name	Touchdowns	1 PAT	2 PAT	Interceptions
Luke Pattimore	1	0	0	2

Rushing
Player Name	Touchdowns	1 PAT	2 PAT

 

Receiving
Player Name	Touchdowns	1 PAT	2 PAT
Jack Romeril	1	0	0

Defensive Stats
Player Name	Sacks	Interceptions	Touchdowns
Sam Barrell	0	1	0
James Alderton	0	1	0

 The Reapers’ started on offence and their aim in knackering Craig was prevalent as there was another handoff to him, pushing the ball a quarter of the way up the field. Next there was a handoff to Matt, which was tackled by Mikey inches from the halfway line. The following pass to Johan made it 5 yards past the halfway line. Johan then missed the next pass. The next pitch to Saad allowed to Reapers to move up to 7 yards from the Hornets’ end zone. Soon to be the norm in this game, there was a pitch to Matt where he scored a touchdown and Johan was there to make the conversion. Clearly he was saving his catches for when they were vitally needed. The score was 6 – 14.

The Hornets’ slowly made their way up the field, but the good defence from the Reapers held them off from the Halfway line. Firstly, there was a great pass to Mikey, pushing the ball up the pitch. But that wasn’t to last with a pitch to Mikey that was tackled one yard up the pitch by Jamie (payback from missing him the previous two times). This was followed by a missed pass and then a centre pass to Rom, which was tackled inches from the halfway line.

The Reapers followed with two short passes up-field, starting with Matt Kershaw (Kersh) and then Chunky. Chunky was then able to bring the ball within the halfway run zone from a handoff from Si. Finally, a long throw to Matt was caught which brought the Reapers within 10 yards of the Hornets’ end zone. Kersh hadn’t played much this match, but he brought his energy to the pitch with a handoff from Si that brought him within inches of the End Zone. Johan dropped the ball again. To round it off, there was a pass to Matt in the end zone which was caught and then to show off he also got the conversion. The score is 6 – 21.

The Hornets’ then brought the pain which a set of excellent centre passes to Baz from Patti, bringing the ball 5 yards past the halfway line. However, they woke the beast that is Craig Batiste who made a pitch tackle a yard into the Hornet’s side of the pitch, pushing the line of scrimmage back 1 yard. This may have spooked Patti (as it most certainly did me) as the next 3 throws were missed and the final one intercepted by Johan who was tackled before making a touchdown.

The Reapers’ did not let up with a falling catch from Saad Frihmat that pushed the ball 15 yards up the field. Si saw the potential in Saad and pitched it off to him, bringing the ball up within 3 yards of the halfway line. Chunky followed this up with a catch just past the halfway line. Si then make a pass to Jamie, who made up another quarter of the way up the pitch (after falling over). To grab the glory, Johan then caught the ball in the end zone but did not make the conversion as Aldi made an excellent interception but was tackled. The score is 6 – 27.

The Hornets’ had the final turnover and they pushed hard against the Reapers. Patti made a great centre pass to Ron who brought the ball up the pitch. However, Matt was clearly not feeling kind as he then made an interception and then ran three quarters off the pitch to make a touchdown. The conversion did not go particularly well as the Reapers’ centre (Chris Grantham) could not be arsed to go back on the field, so a surprised Craig became the Reapers’ new Quarterback. In the laziest way possible, Craig gave Chunky the ball and Chunky was stopped inches from making the conversion.

Overall it was a very good game, with both sides having excellent defence. However, the key receiver Matthew Jackson was there to win and the Reapers won with 6 – 33, making up for their previous loss.

Game Stats – Reapers
Passing
Player Name	Touchdowns	1 PAT	2 PAT	Interceptions
Si King	3	3	0	2

Rushing
Player Name	Touchdowns	1 PAT	2 PAT
Matt Jackson	1	0	0

Receiving
Player Name	Touchdowns	1 PAT	2 PAT
Matt Jackson	2	1	0
Johan Pols	1	2	0

Defensive Stats
Player Name	Sacks	Interceptions	Touchdowns
Matt Jackson	0	1	1
Johan Pols	0	1	0