Manchester Titans American Football Club

Manchester Titans got the 2009 season off to a bang with a 27 – 14 win over Hull Hornets on sunday.

First Quarter

The Titans kicked the game off  playing for the first time against the Hornets since their playoff loss two years earlier to the Hornets. On their first play, Hull ran the ball for a loss of 3 and following the first penalty of the game for the Titans lining up a player in the neutral zone the Hornets threw an interception which was gratefully accepted by Titans number 24 Stewart Hay who ran the ball back 22 yards.

The Titans began their first Offensive series of the game with a 2 yard rushing loss by William Waketega. The Titans managed to get inside the Hull 20 but on failing to get in the endzone by 4th down settled for a field goal taking the lead at 3 – 0.

Hull on their second offensive possession made some progress, making a couple of first downs but once again threw an interception, this time to Titans Linebacker Alex Butlin who was tackled before making any progress. The Titans closed out the quarter still in possession without scoring further.

Second Quarter

At the start of the second quarter the Titans were struggling to move the ball as the Hornets defense forced them back stopping Titans debutant Ricky Whittle in his tracks twice and sacking Titans QB Alan Mead for a loss of ten yards so the Titans chose to punt with punter Ryan Farrell putting the ball out of play at the 30 yard line.

Before the Hornets could make any progress they fumbled the ball to Titans Jonasz Bala and the Titans took over possession again. After once again failing to penetrate the red zone the Titans once again settled for a field goal with Dave Barnett kicking his second 28 yard field goal of the game to extend their lead to 6 – 0.

The Hornets failed to make any progress on their next drive, opting to punt having failed to make a first down but several plays later the Hornets intercepted an Alan Mead pass running it in for a touchdown to level the scores but failed to score the 2 point conversion leaving the score at 6 – 6.

Titans running back Ricky Whittle’s 50 yard kick-off return was called back for a holding penalty and neither team added to the score with the Titans punting and the Hornets failing to convert on 4th down but the Titans came close with a first down at the 1 yard line on a 35 yard completion to Tight End Ryan Farrell but the clock ran out giving the Titans no time to capitalize with the half finishing level at 6 – 6.
Second Half – 3rd Quarter

The Hornets kicked off the second half with Titans Linebacker Graham Roberts returning the ball 25 yards. After a 15 yard pass completion to Tight End Chris Heap, Phil Fizpatrick and William Wakatega shared the running duties before Dave Barnett ran the ball in for the Titans first touchdown of the game but the Titans failed to convert the extra point taking the score to 12 – 6 once again taking the lead.

The Titans kicked off stopping Hull at the 3 yard line but the Hornets successfully managed to drive the ball downfield, particularly with some superb running by Hull running back number 44 and after a couple of successful 4th down conversions including one courtesy of a facemask penalty against the Titans, the Hornets managed to add to their score with a touchdown and 2 PAT taking the lead for the first time in the game at 12 – 14.

After a short return by Titans Defensive Lineman Jonathon O’Neill, Titans running back William Wakatega ran 12 yards for another first down and tight end Chris Heap caught an Alan Mead pass for a 34 yard completion to make it first and goal with Phil Fitzpatrick running the ball in 3 yards for the touchdown to regain the lead and William Waketega running in the 2 pat making the score 20 – 14 in Manchester’s favour with this being the last action of the 3rd Quarter.

4th Quarter

The Titans kicked off the 4th quarter but while the Hornets managed to make a first down once and recovered their own fumble and in spite of some superb running by number 44, some fierce gang tackling by the Titans and a personal foul penalty against Hull saw Hull being forced to punt.

The Titans running backs William Wakatega, Dave Barnett and  Phil Fitzpatrick made some good running but the Titans were eventually forced to punt, downing the ball at the Hull 7 yard line.

Hull also made little progress on their following drive, punting on 4th down with Titans Mark Squire returning the ball 25 yards and William Wakatega running the ball in 12 yards for the final touchdown of the game. After a false start on the 2 pat attempt, the Titans opted to settle for one point with Dave Barnett kicking the extra point making the score 27 – 14.

On the ensuing kick off the ball went out of bounds at the 27 yard line meaning that the Titans conceded a spot foul with the Hornets next drive starting on their own 40 yard line.

With the Hornets failing to make any progress, the Titans took over on downs as Hull failed to convert on 4th down, running down the last few seconds to end the game 27 – 14 making a winning start to the season.

Game Stats:
MVP’s
Coors Light Offensive MVP: William Wakatega
Coors Light Defensive MVP: Alex Butlin

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