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Congratulations to the Poole Dolphins who were crowned the u19 Division Two National Champions at the championship tournament in Oxford yesterday. Our own under 19 squad, the South East Legion, finished the season third in the nation after making the finals alongside Poole, the Yorkshire Academy Assassins and the Wembley Stallions but unfortunately we came up short in our quest for the title.

The semi-final

South East Legion vs Poole Dolphins

Following a fantastic unbeaten regular season, we went into the National Finals as the #1 seed and with high hopes of the national championship. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed by an excellent Poole side who got revenge for their 13-7 loss to the Legion in Maidstone earlier this season.

The game started badly for the under 19s. After Poole went 4 and out on their first drive, the Legion took over with the chance to drive and take the lead. Instead, on our very first play of the day, the Dolphins defensive line burst through our blockers to tackle Olly Z in his own endzone. The safety gave the Dolphins a 2-0 lead and the ball. In a pivotal moment, the luck then fell in Poole’s favour even further.

On their next drive near midfield, the Dolphins faced a key 4th down play. As their runner was being tackled, defensive captain Sol was able to rip the ball from the runner’s hands and return it all the way for a touchdown. Unfortunately, the referees disagreed and called the runner down before Sol had the ball. Unfortunately, we don’t get the benefit of VAR in Britball and so we had no choice but to respect the call and move on, even though our later video replays showed Sol did indeed get the ball out before the runningback was downed.

Poole couldn’t score on that drive as Lucas eventually snagged an interception in our endzone to snuff out their drive. Meanwhile, a much more promising drive from Nate and the offense took the ball downfield but the Poole defense held firm again on 4th and 1 at midfield.

It was proving to be a defensive battle. Poole again failed to move the ball but then disaster struck again for the Legion. Much like our first drive, deep in our own territory a mistake handed Poole the advantage. A fumbled handoff on first down set up the Dolphins at our own one yard line and they plunged in on the next play for the TD. Their two point conversion gave the Dolphins a 10-0 lead.

There was another controversial moment after Zach forced a fumble deep in Poole territory, but again the refs said the runner had his knee down before the ball came loose. Again, we needed VAR to prove that had not been the case but there was nothing we could do except to respect the decision and play on. The offense struggled to get the ball moving on their next possession and went 4 and out before the Dolphins gained a crucial advantage with the play of the game. With the Legion defense blitzing deep in Poole territory, one of their receivers was left uncovered and the gamble definitely didn’t pay off for us. The Poole QB found his man who scooted the length of the field for a 16-0 lead at half-time.

In the second half, the defense certainly tried to get us back in the game with defensive tackle Douglas a particular standout as he managed a sack and a separate tackle for loss that gave the Legion two safeties to reduce the gap to 16-4. But the offense was still struggling. Poole’s defense has been excellent all year long and they proved that defense wins championships with a fine effort throughout the game.

Nate, Olly Z, James, Thomas, Olly M and Josiah all made plays at various points through the air and on the ground but ultimately we couldn’t sustain any of our drives. We reached the Poole 15 yard line on a couple of occasions but failed to convert. Poole’s final drive was the nail in the Legion’s coffin. A long, time consuming drive featuring a series of running plays ground down the Legion’s resistance before the Poole RB dove in for the final score of the day. Poole advanced to the National Final against Wembley while the Legion were left downcast but determined to make a good showing against Yorkshire in the 3rd/4th place playoff game.

The 3rd/4th place playoff game

South East Legion vs Yorkshire

Although it wasn’t the game we wanted to play in, the under 19s had the chance to finish the season on a high in the 3rd/4th place playoff game against the Northern Division champions – the Yorkshire Academy Assassins from Leeds.

We had the ball first but failed to convert on 4th down. However we got the ball back on the very next play when the elusive Yorkshire RB fumbled deep in his own territory. It gave the Legion a great chance to take an early lead but on 2nd and goal at the 1 yard line, a fumbled handoff between Nate and Zach gave possession back to Yorkshire!

The Assassins initially struggled to move the ball and had 4th down and 9 to reach midfield, but it was then that the Yorkshire star RB showed his worth. He got loose down the left sideline and took the ball all way 34 yards for the touchdown. Sol intercepted their extra point pass attempt and the score was 6-0 Yorkshire.

With a couple of key offensive linemen missing on the day because of holidays, the Legion offense struggled at times throughout both games and their next drive was another example as we failed to get anything going. But it was then that the tide started to turn.

Deep in Yorkshire territory, Zach broke through the offensive line to tackle the QB in the endzone for a safety to reduce the deficit to four. Then on the very next play, Olly Z ran right on 1st down, found a crease and dashed down the right sideline for 45 yards and the touchdown. Although the PAT attempt failed, the Legion had the lead at 9-6 and didn’t give it up for the rest of the game.

Yorkshire responded with a good drive, filled with mazy runs from their fast, scatback-style runners. After an unfortunate facemask penalty gave Yorkshire a first down at our 4 yard line, a touchdown seemed inevitable. But the Legion defense responded as they have done all year. The defensive stand forced the turnover on downs and then, later on and inside the two minute warning, a long pass had a Yorkshire receiver running for the goal-line before Lucas crunched in (see photo) to make the touchdown saving tackle at our three yard line as time expired.

Although the Legion held a narrow 9-6 lead at half-time, we were shortly to extend the advantage. Yorkshire had the ball first but a fumbled snap was recovered by defensive end Daniel at the Assassins’ two yard line. Olly Z ran it in for the touchdown two plays later and Aaron added the extra point for a 16-6 Legion lead.

Both teams exchanged drives without scoring with Daniel again to the fore as a 4th down sack of the Yorkshire QB brought their next drive to an end. Nate and the Legion offense then seemed to be putting together a promising drive and had 4th and 1 at midfield. A botched snap however put paid to that opportunity and the ball once again went back to the Assassins.

With time running down in the game, Yorkshire had to pull out all the tricks and a 4th down reverse sweep to their star RB got him loose once again and he scored. The two point pass after the touchdown closed the gap to 16-14.

In such a close battle between two good teams, the offense needed to respond to try and keep the Northern Champions at bay. We looked to be backed up and struggling until a 4th down play of the game from QB Nate to WR Thomas, a relatively recent arrival at our club, provided the spark. Nate stepped up into the pocket past the onrushing defensive ends and launched a bomb to Thomas down the right sideline. Thomas caught the ball high above the defensive back and ran all the way to the one yard line before a last ditch tackle from the cornerback brought him up short of his first ever touchdown. Olly Z took over and punched the ball in for his third touchdown of the day. Another nice pass from Nate, this time to James, for the extra point made the final score 22-14.

The other semi-final

Yorkshire vs Wembley Stallions

The D2 National Final

Poole Dolphins vs Wembley Stallions