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Our under 19 squad, the South East Legion, stayed on top of the Division Two South-East last Saturday after they travelled to Croydon and came away with an unblemished 4-0 record. The Legion has now won twelve straight regular season games stretching back to the start of 2025 and 14 of their last 15. We knew it would be a tough task on Saturday with a number of our senior players at university and unable to travel, but the uni players who could make it, alongside our younger year groups, all had a great day which featured four debut touchdowns!

Wembley Stallions vs South East Legion

Our only game of the day was against our old foes, the Wembley Stallions. The Legion lost the toss and were given the ball to start the game and it didn’t take long to get on the scoresheet. On the second play of the games, Tye threw a short bubble screen to James who reversed field behind his offensive line to dash down the right side line. Harvey provided the key block and James ran 34 yards for the score. Although James was able to play for the Legion late in the season last year, this was his first touchdown at this level. Eathan tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The Legion defense was in unbelievable form all day. They held Wembley’s offense in check, especially on the ground, and came up with a series of big plays. The first of which took place on the Stallions ensuing possession. On second down, Douglas burst through their offensive line to tackle the Stallions RB in the endzone for a safety and a 9-0 lead.

It got even worse for the Stallions on the first play of our next drive. Kris took a short toss from Tye and behind Riley’s lead block, he showed his speed in dashing 45 yards for the touchdown. Kris started with the Legion this season and in only his second tournament, he notched his first score. This time it was Harvey who added the extra point for 16-0. The Stallions once again found themselves backed up in their own endzone and a bad snap on 4th down was followed up by Douglas once again for his second safety of the game and third on the season so far

On the Legion’s third possession, Kris went back to the well a second time and took a similar looking sweep toss for 42 yards this time and hit paydirt once again. Playing in his first ever game, Ben added the extra point for a 25-0 lead at half-time.

In the second half, the Legion coaches used the opportunity of a big lead to ensure everybody got some game time. Debut RB Ben was given a long drive in the second half in which Tye led our offense to the four yard line but we couldn’t finish off the drive on 4th down and the Stallions got their first stop.

But they continued to struggle on offense. Defensive captain Sol came up with an interception deep inside Stallions territory and Ben got his debut touchdown after all, punching the ball in from four yards out. Tye added the extra point for 32-0.

Then following another turnover, this time Sol recovering a fumble forced by Sadiq, the Legion offense set-up Josiah for his first touchdown in his third season with the team. A sweet reward for lots of hard work over the years. Tye found him in the endzone for a 12 yard score but the extra point was botched after a bad snap. Final score Legion 38-0 Wembley.

Northants Knights vs South East Legion

The difficult situation around British American Football officiating continues to dog the second division of under 19s. No BAFRA officials were available once again and that caused an unfortunate situation and sequence of events that ultimately resulted in the Northants Knights not having sufficient players and coaches to make the trip and play. The Legion thus awarded a 1-0 walkover victory.

We have no desire to win games by forfeit and we sympathise entirely with the situation that Northants found themselves in. It was not of their own making. We hope very much to see them at the next tournament and to have a chance to test ourselves against their very capable team.

Other games taking place

London Warriors vs Wembley Stallions

The Northants Knights were unable to travel with sufficient players and so forfeited both their games.

London Warriors vs Northants Knights