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Congratulations to under 19 squad, the South East Legion, who advanced to six wins out of six on Saturday and, in so doing, confirmed themselves as Division Two South-East champions for 2026. The Legion have now 14 games straight in the regular season and 15 of their last 16 including playoffs and are back-to-back division champions after a similar success in 2025.

A bright, cool day was perfect weather for football at ‘the Ranch’, the home of the Wembley Stallions on Saturday and the Legion knew they would have two stern tests in former Division 1 teams, London and Northants, who each had size, athleticism and great organisations behind them.

South East Legion vs London Warriors

The London Warriors is a famous name in British American Football, known for multiple championships at both youth and adult level. It was perhaps, therefore, no surprise that the game started off tight and with the Warriors defense proving a match for the Legion offense.

The under 19s got a narrow edge ahead when a Warriors bad snap led to confusion in the backfield and cornerback Mark started off a great day for him personally by making the tackle and notching the safety for a 2-0 lead. The Legion offense then got a good drive going but came up just short when a pass on 4th down from Tye to rookie receiver Jet was ruled just out of the back of the endzone.

The Legion defense, however, quickly gave the offense another chance. Douglas forced a fumble from the Warriors offense and Charlie was the man on the spot to recover at the London two yard line. Harvey promptly punched the ball in and although the offense couldn’t get the extra point, we had an 8-0 lead going into half-time.

The Warriors responded immediately at the start of the second half. On their first drive, a wide receiver bounced off two tackles on a jet sweep and raced 40 yards for the touchdown. Their two point attempt to tie the scores was no good as Cass came up with a big and important tackle to keep us in front 8-6.

The Legion offense got to midfield on their next drive but came up just shy on 4th down to prevent a fresh set of downs, but the defense again came up trumps. Sadiq forced a fumble deep in London territory, Zach recovered it at the three yard line this time and Harvey scored on the next play. A bad snap on the extra point left the score at 14-6.

The defense really were keeping our boys in the game with a stifling effort to which London had no answers. Zach was causing them particular problems and his pressure led to an opportunity for Charlie to pounce on the ball carrier in the endzone for 16-6.

Then the Legion’s best drive of the game. Ben was given the backfield duties and his running and receptions out of the backfield took the Legion to the Warriors 16. Then it was Tye’s turn to make a key contribution, hitting Luke in the corner of the endzone from 16 yards out for the last touchdown of the game. Kris added the extra point. 23-6.

London still had time for one more day, but the defense was at it again. Sadiq forced a fumble which Charlie recovered on the final play of the game to make the final score 23-6. At that point, the Legion knew playoff football was assured even if there was still work to do against Northants to secure the division.

Northants Knights vs South East Legion

Our second game of the day was a different test. Northants had endured a difficult start to the season with only one game played out of four due to forfeits, and were no doubt keen to actually play some games and prove their abilities.

The Legion defense had a tremendous afternoon in both games but they put the Legion on the road to victory early by scoring the first eight points of the day. On the Knights first drive, it was that man Mark again who popped up with a great tackle in the endzone for a 2-0 lead. After the Legion offense went four and out, Mark stepped up again. He read the Quarterback’s eyes perfectly to intercept the pass and returned it all the way for his first touchdown as a member of the u19s. Ben added the extra point to make it 9-0 Legion.

The Knights couldn’t get a first down going on their next drive and so the Legion were given the ball back with a great chance to cement the lead. With QB Tye nursing a foot injury, Nate was back from uni and showed his leadership and veteran smarts in leading a long ten play drive in which he added the score. On 4th and Goal from the six yard line, Nate stretched his receivers out wide to force the defense to leave gaps and he took full advantage on a QB draw. Kris added the extra point and it was 16-0.

The teams exchanged possessions without either offense able to move the ball consistently but it was Cass who then popped up with a big play picking off the Knights QB to set-up the Legion offense deep in Northants territory. Nate founded Harvey out of the backfield for the score and Nate ran the extra point in himself for 23-0.

The final action of a busy first half saw Luan add another safety for the Legion defense to make it 25-0 at half-time.

The Legion started to rotate players in the second half and give some of our hard-working rookies and backups an opportunity to play. But the half started badly when a botched handoff between Nate and Kris enabled the Knights defense to fall on the ball in the endzone. The Legion defense prevented an extra point but it narrowed the gap to 25-6.

Tye returned to the game at QB as his foot injury eased, but the offense was still struggling to move the ball consistently with penalties and mental errors costing drives. Not for the first time this season, it was the defense that really turned the screw and gave the Legion some breathing room. Two drives later, defensive captain Sol intercepted the Knights QB at our own 23 yard line and returned it all the way for his second touchdown of the season. The offense couldn’t get the extra point but Zach, who had a monstrous second game overall with seven tackles, six QB pressures and two sacks added to our total by grounding the Knights QB in the endzone for a safety to make it 33-6.

The final score of the day came from rookie runningback Ben. Running hard up the middle, he broke a tackle hit the outside and ran 38 yards for the score to make it 39-6 final score.

Other games taking place

Wembley Stallions vs Northants Knights

Wembley Stallions vs London Warriors