Sundevils Sacrificed by Unforgiving Aztecs

photos © UNiCOM

The first ever BAFL Premier game saw the Southern Sundevils travel to Bristol to play the Aztecs, in what has become one of the most heated rivalries in British American football.

Having missed out narrowly on a place in the Britbowl division 1 final last year, the Sundevils were once again tipped to challenge for honours, and were favourites over the newly promoted Aztecs.

Having not beaten the Sundevils since 1999, the Aztecs were prepared, and eager to kick off the campaign in style by hitting the sundevils hard and fast in the first quarter.

All went to plan for the Aztecs, as QB Dom Westwood threw a pin-point strike to wide out Nick Smith for a 39 yard score, converted by Chris Hunt. The Sundevil offence went three and out, and the Aztec offence was soon rolling down the field once again, this time running back Nick Proctor carried the ball into the endzone on a 14 yard carry, again converted by Chris Hunt, to give the Aztecs an early 14-0 lead.

It was not long before Dom Westwood threw another crisp strike to Nick Smith, this time for 66 yards. Hunt converted again to give the Aztecs a solid 21-0 lead. A series of questionable Aztec defensive penalties then helped Southern in their first drive of the game, which culminated in a 6 yard pass from Stuart Franklin to Steve O'Donahue, the two pointer was no good, and the Aztecs took a 21-6 lead into the half.

In the third quarter, the Aztecs picked up where they had left off with another touchdown thrown by Dom Westwood to Nick smith, this time for 45 yards, closely followed after a Ty Williams interception of Stuart Franklin, by another touchdown run, from 11 yards, by Nick Proctor, which made the score Aztecs 34, Sundevils 6.

After good running in the first three quarters by Aztec full back Tim Stone, and running backs Nick Proctor and Guy Hughes-Games, it was the turn of Gabriel Sey to line up in the Aztec backfield.

Sey has been invited into the GB lions squad, and featured in the Bristol Bullets BCAFL team who recently won the college bowl, and quickly displayed some skills, picking through the Sundevils defence on his way to a 13 yard touchdown run.

The Sundevils then fumbled the resulting kick return, giving the Aztec offense great field position, which Westwood once again capitalised on, hitting Scott Meredith for a 21 yard touchdown. The Kick was blocked by the Sundevils, but Aztec defensive end Chris Bell leapt acrobatically into the air to snare the live ball, before rumbling over several Southern defenders to earn the 2 points. At 48-6 the Sundevils were soundly beaten, but still managed to save some face with an 85 yard kick return touchdown, making the final score 48-12 to the Aztecs.

Notable performance for the Aztecs were Nick Proctor with 106 yards and 2 touchdowns from 19 carries, Guy Hughs-Games with 86 yards from 8 carries, Dom Westwood, who was 6 of 10 for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Nick Smith who hauled in 3 passes, all for touchdowns and a total of 150 yards. Also impressing were 1st year Aztec Youth graduates Ty Williams and Tom Johnson, who both started their first games at senior level. Williams snared his first interception from Sundevils QB Stuart Franklin, and Johnson led the Aztec defense with 4 tackles, and 1.5 sacks.

Delighted

Head Coach Mark Hopkins was delighted, "Any win in this division is big, but to start the season against a tough local rival with whom we have a history of tough encounters, and win this big, is delightful. I'm really proud and pleased with the way the team responded, and I'm confident we can move on and build on this success.

The Aztecs now have back to back home fixtures against the London Blitz on 6th May, and the London Olympians on 13th May, both 2.30 kick offs, both at the BAWA club on Southmead Rd.

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