Chester Romans 0:56 West Coast Trojans
Saturday 5th May saw Chester Romans travel north of the border to take on Renfrew based West Coast Trojans and found them selves on the receiving end of a 56-0 mauling as West Coast Trojans ran up an emphatic second victory in their BAFL Division 1 campaign.
The Trojans came into this game as firm favourites, even though they had made changes to their offensive strategy during the off season. Offensively Chester struggled to cope with the ferocious tackling of the Trojans defense, having to wait until the third quarter before they got their first down. Defensively, they struggled to contain a new look Trojans attack, as two touchdowns from Jordan Falconer and one each from Gary McNey and Dave Pasnik put the Trojans in an unassailable 28-0 half time lead
Even though Trojans lost the services of some of their key players in the second half, the rout continued, right up until the final minutes when rookie running back Liam Leonard rounded off what ended in an eight touchdown rout to make it a resounding 56–0 victory and two wins out of two for the Renfrewshire outfit.
After a nervy start, the Trojans soon started to make their presence felt as the Romans were on the receiving end of some ferocious tackling from the West Coast defense and Chester quarterback; Jason Walker was soon getting acclimatised to Scottish soil. On offense, two touchdowns a piece from Jordan Falconer and David Pasnik along with one score from Gary McNey put the game beyond the Romans reach. Brian McFerren (defense), Stephen O’Neill and Liam Leonard added one touchdown each as they celebrated their first ever scores as Trojans.
Although a team effort, the Trojans defensive unit merit a special mention having now achieved two shutouts in succession, they have also been putting points on the board with corner back Brian “Bud” McFerren running back a 22 yard interception for a touchdown. The speed and strength of the Trojans defense is quite awesome and will certainly be a force to be reckoned with throughout the 2007 campaign.
The final score could have been even higher but for a number of missed conversions, and some plays being called back due to infringements, but these are minor points in what was another emphatic victory. There is no doubt, the 2007 West Coast Trojans still have more to offer and must be serious contenders to reach the BAFL One playoffs in September.
Trojans Head Coach Gary McNey commented,
“I was lot happier with our performance on offence today, TJ (Trojans quarterback) had a good game. Running back Jordan Falconer and wide receiver Dave Pasnik again proved they are unstoppable, more so Jordan who in only one and half quarters of football amassed 117yds and 2 touchdowns with only 9 carries". He continued. "Defensively there is not much more I can say apart from 'awesome' 2 shutouts against very good teams is better than we expected. We have installed a new defensive playbook that have yet to run anything apart from the basic package, this is all that has been required to stop both offenses. Our coverage guys have also been doing well, holding Doncaster to very little receptions and the Romans to zero.!
McNey concluded saying, "I have to give credit to the Romans for hanging in there and giving it their all right to the final whistle, they never stopped going even after our defense punished their running backs and quarterback”
The next big test for the Trojans comes just next weekend, when they travel to Doncaster Mustangs for their first road game of the season. Will the Trojans travel well……we shall see.
West Coast Trojans run teams for age groups of 14 years and upwards. Anyone interested in playing, helping or supporting the team should contact Trojans General Manager, Drew McCabe on 07831 180 457 or visit us at www.west-coast-trojans.com.
All photographs are copyright Iain MacIntosh of www.imacimages.co.uk