Sunday the 24th August 2014 will go down as a memorable day in the history of the Ouse Valley Eagles. It was a day that seen a team reach its goals, and strive to go further, only to be quashed in literally, the last few minutes.

The Solent Thrashers were deserving victors in an exciting game, which was a credit to British American Football, and was played the way the game was meant to be played.

With both sides clearly nervous at the start of the game, it was the referees who set the tone for the afternoon, by throwing a flag on the very first play of game. It would not be their last.

After starting on their 20 yard line, the Thrashers were pushed back through various penalties and some stout defense from the Eagles, before they threw an errant pass straight into the arms of Eagles CB Paul Green, who managed to get the ball back to the Solent 5 yard line.

With an extremely short field, it took the Eagles just 3 plays to break through the Solent defense and secure the 1st points of the game, with #31 Yomi Okuboyejo scoring the Eagles first ever post-season points, running in for the touchdown, with Vasco Dias adding the PAT giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

The Thrashers returned the ensuing kickoff back to the Eagles 35 yard line, and scored a few plays later through a strong running game.

The first and second quarter generally flew past with neither offense really taking a hold, or getting much of a chance to due to the referees need to throw flags.

Finally the game kicked back into life with around 4 minutes left in the half, the Thrashers broke through again, after a long run from #18. That score was converted to give the Thrashers a 7 point lead.

The Eagles came out strong after that, with QB Stuart Franklin working well with Offensive Co-ordinator Neale McMaster to orchestrate the offense all the way down to the Thrashers 8 yard line. With the Eagles having no timeouts and needing the ball to be spotted to spike it and stop the clock, the half was blown dead with the official walking over to the spot with the ball in his hand. The Thrashers led 14-7 going into the half.

A stern half time team talk from the Eagles HC Will White seemed to work its magic, as the Eagles came out firing from the break, with the Eagles once again working their way all the way down to the Solent 1 yard line, before an errant pass from QB Franklin saw the ball picked off and downed in the End zone.

After several punts were exchanged, it was the Thrashers who were next to break through, with #4, playing offense, defense and special teams for the 60 strong Solent Roster, taking it 55 yards to the house, making the score 21-7.

The following kickoff was received by return specialist Chris Parr, who took the ball back to the Solent 37 yard line.

It took the Eagles only one play to get the score, with #48 Kalaba ‘Kase’ Chibwe speeding in on a draw play. The PAT attempt was good, and the score was 21-14 going into the fourth quarter.

The first quarter started brightly for the Eagles with Safety Danny Lipner intercepting a long pass, giving the Eagles the ball back on their own 15 yard line.

The old connection of Franklin o Dawes was once again in full swing, as they connected on a long fade pattern down the left sideline, taking the ball to the Thrashers 25 yard line.

A quick 7 yard gain from Chibwe set up the touchdown pass, with Franklin connecting with Dawes at the back of the endzone, again on the fade route. The PAT was blocked and the Eagles closed the gap to 21-20.

The ensuing drive saw Solent put together a strong drive, taking the ball down to the Eagles 5 yard line. The drive looked as if it was stalling when 3 downs went for little gain, before on 4th down, in came #4 for the Thrashers who duly walked the ball into the endzone, taking the score line to 28-20.

The Eagles was buoyed by their performance in the 2nd half so far, but an off-target throw was intercepted on the second play of the drive. This seemed to deflate the entire team, and was easily the turning point for the game.

Solent failed to capitalise on the mistake, but a punt from Solent, was matched by a quick 4 and out from the Eagles, before Solent put the dagger in the heart of the Eagles, running in a score after the two minute warning to kill any spirit the Eagles had left.

Knowing their fate, the Eagles battled through, but eventually turned over on downs, allowing Solent to kneel out the game.

Solent, who were 21 point favourites in this game, were well deserving of their victory, but were gracious enough to concede that was easily the hardest game they have played, and will feel relieved they came out of the game with a win.

An underrated Eagles side should feel proud of their accomplishments. There are no other first year teams in the league to have made the playoffs, and despite not being a rookie team, a great deal of hard work has went in to merging the two clubs, and getting the Eagles to compete as a team.

After the game, Head Coach Will White said “We knew it would be a challenge against a very tough team, and it proved to be just that. Myself and my OC Neale McMaster had good game plans, but it was a great chess game between great coaches on both teams.

“In the end, it boiled down to Solent being the better team by taking advantage of some key mistakes. Our hats off to them, they are a great team.”

The Eagles will now enjoy a few weeks break before announcing our rookie days tour locations and dates, and organising off-season events.

In a game that was largely downplayed by the media leading up to it, the Ouse Valley Eagles walked away from the biggest game of the season against Kent Exiles with a win, and have all but confirmed their spot in the playoffs, pushing Kent out of contention.

The Eagles arrived at a searing hot Beaverwood Club in Kent, knowing that only a victory would do. The team was relaxed, and enjoyed the youth game going on before it (where Kent were crowned as division winners, congratulations boys!), but when they came out for warm-ups, they were extremely focused.

The Eagles offense started with the ball and some strong running from Yomi Okuboyejo, behind Full-backs Rick Price and Michael Wilson Sr, set the tempo for the day, the Eagles were going to come out physical, and stick to their game plan.

After a couple of possessions each, it was the Eagles who made the breakthrough first, with QB Stuart Franklin hit WR Chris Cowley running free down the seam for the first touchdown of the day, taking the score to 6-0 after the missed PAT.

The Kent offense run game was keeping them in the game with some strong running from #12 Daniel Exell keeping the Eagles defense on their toes. Indeed it was Exell who got the next score, running to his left, and following some stellar blocking from his WR’s.

The Burden fell back onto the Eagles offense who went back to their game plan and came up with the score, #8 Franklin connecting with #12 Dale Hawes on the slant for the score. An excellent call on the PAT attempt led to #31 Okuboyejo running in the 2Pt conversation on the fake PAT, taking the score to 14-7.

With halftime approaching, the Eagles defense got a quick turnover on downs and set the offense up for a shot at the end zone with 4 seconds left on the clock. Franklin connected with #16 Jack Davis-Fletcher, however, “Sticks” was called down at just the 4 yard line. Instead of being disappointed with the failed attempt, the team went into the half upbeat, knowing a big second half performance would see them out.

At the start of the second half however, it was the Exiles special teams that came out firing, with a great kickoff return taking the ball all the way down the Eagles 9 yard line. The Eagles defense then came up huge, forcing a a 5-yard loss on a 1st down run, then an incomplete pass on 2nd down before Andy Larwill sacked the Exiles QB for a huge loss, leaving them with a 4th and goal on the Eagles 22.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Eagles defense managed to give the Offense the ball back on their own 39 yard line, pushing the Exiles offense back 30 yards in 4 plays. This defensive show buoyed the offense, who skilfully drove the ball down the field, including a 4th and short play to get the first down, before Franklin connected with a wide open Hawes in the endzone for his 2nd touchdown of the day. Hawes kicked the extra point, taking the score line to 21-7.

Later in the 3rd quarter, the Eagles got the ball back on their own 4 yard line, and a well timed blitz by the Exiles Defense forced QB Stuart Franklin to let the ball go earlier than he would have liked, and the Exiles duly walked it into the end zone for the touchdown, the converted PAT took the score line to 21-14.
The 3rd quarter provided the only sour point to an otherwise superb afternoon’s work for the Eagles with team captain Yomi Okuboyejo getting sent off for throwing a punch at an opponent after being choked on the ground after a run. The Eagles have not appealed this decision and Okuboyejo will miss the Eagles next game against the Bury Saints.

The Eagles defense rallied, giving the offense the ball back in the 4th quarter, with nearly 9 minutes left on the clock, and the offense duly delivered, with Franklin hitting #87 Chris Cowley (not Amanda Casey, as the Exiles commentator called, much to the delight of the rest of the Eagles) on a 40 yard pass to the back corner of the end zone. The PAT attempt failed, leaving the score at 27-14.

The Exiles strangely didn’t seem in a big rush to score and continued to huddle and wind seconds off the clock. The Eagles defense forced a 4th down situation with just over 2 minutes left on the clock, and the Exiles decided to punt the ball away, putting it out of bounds at the Eagles 5 yard line. This confusing decision, being 2 scores down, put the Eagles offense back on the field, and the strong running of the evergreen Michael Wilson Sr, interspersed with Exiles timeouts, got the first down, and allowed the Eagles to kneel out the game and take the important win.

Offensive Co-ordinator Neale McMaster said after the game “I’m absolutely delighted, this was a win for the whole organisation. We finessed a win on offense through our passing attack, and our running game set the tone for that, grinding out tough yards all day against a pretty tough defense. Our defense was outstanding once again, and is hands down the best in the league, having only conceded something like 29 points all season, the rest of our PA have came on Special Teams and Interceptions.

I’m really pleased with how our running game has come on over the course of the season, and I think that’s in large part to the progress of our 2 fullbacks. Both Mike and Rick have some fantastic physical skills, and we are utilising them more and more, as you seen today. Rick got an absolutely vital 4th down conversion that led to a score, and Mike finished the game off by running out the clock and getting that vital first down.

We have another game next weekend against a tough Bury Saints outfit, but if we can walk away with a win there, our place in the playoffs is guaranteed, so all our focus is now on getting prepared for Bury and securing our place in the playoffs.”

The next game against Bury will either secure the Eagles playoff chances or destroy them. At this point it’s ‘Win and get in’ for the Eagles, and they will be striving to do just that.

In what was extremely blustery conditions the Kent Exiles walked away with an impressive 14-13 victory against a strong Eagles side, in a game the hosts will feel they could, and possibly should, have won.

Going with the wind in the first quarter, the Eagles defense set the tone for the day, taking just five plays before forcing the Exiles to punt the ball away. The Eagles offense took the field and immediately got the ground game going, with big runs from Yomi Okuboyejo taking the Eagles to just inside the Exiles half.

After a couple of sure touchdown passes were dropped, the defense took over again, this time taking just one play before getting the ball back to the offense. Some strong passes form QB Martin Day took the Eagles all the way down to the Kent 11 yard line, where a quick pass from to wide receiver #12 Dale Hawes secured the touchdown, and with the PAT good the Eagles held a 7-0 lead.

The ensuing kick off was recovered by Kent, but downed at their own 2-yard line. Sensing an opportunity for safety, the Eagles D attacked and on the second play of the drive, forced and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a defensive touchdown.

In what would turn out to be one of the most critical plays of the game, a high snap on the PAT forced kicker and starting corner back, Vasco Dias to try and run in the two point conversation, but he was knocked out of bounds with inches to spare. There was a brief fracas after the play, and Dias was ejected for his part in proceedings.

Another quick three-and-out by the Eagles defense put the offense back on the field in excellent field position, however an errant throw on third down led to a pick six for Kent, with the extra point reducing their arrears to 13-7 with barely ten minutes of football played.

After several stalled drives from both teams in weather that definitely favoured the defense, Kent managed to find a way through with a 30-yard pass and catch over the middle for the touchdown. The PAT was good which took the score to 14-13 in favour of the visitors going into the half-time break.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, with the Eagles defense on top, and errors at crucial times from the offense the game remained in stalemate.

Despite some outstanding performances on defense, and the sterling efforts of backup QB’s Enrique Alonso and Stuart Franklin, the offense could not get the final score to win the game, despite being in the opposition red zone no less than five times in the second half alone.

Written by Neale McMaster

The Ouse Valley Eagles hosted their first ever home game in the BAFANL on Sunday, with a pleasing 37-0 victory over league new boys the London Hornets.

The Eagles game flying out the gate with two scores on their first two possessions, with Running Back and Offensive Captain Yomi Okuboyejo power over, through and around defenders for a 32 yard rushing touchdown to kick-start the game. After a quick turnover by the Eagles defense, the offense went back out onto the field, and after a defensive penalty took away a sure touchdown, the Eagles scored on the very next play, with WR Chris Cowley adjusting well to the ball in the air and making the TD grab.

It was then the turn of the Eagles Special Teams and Defense to get on the scoreboard, both times through Chris Parr, who scored on a terrific Punt return and returned an interception to the house for a further 6 points. This gave the Eagles a 24-0 lead with 2 minutes still to play in the first quarter.

The game slowed over the next two quarters as the developmental players on the Eagles squad found their feet, however the defense was on top throughout. The Eagles moved the ball well throughout, but struggled to get the ball in the end zone.

In the fourth quarter the game livened up a little, with rookie corner Mike Edwards getting two interceptions, one of which he returned to the end zone for another six points taking the score line to 31-0. A further interception by fellow rookie corner Darren Jackson gave the Eagles some great field position, which finally resulted in some points, as Martin Day completed a quick pass to Dale Hawes on the slant for what turned out to be the final score of the game, leaving the score line at 37-0.

In what was a much more polished performance by the Eagles overall, the defense stood out once again as a unit to be feared in the National division. Stand out performances from Dale Hawes who had a few superb catches and a touchdown, and Chris Parr who returned one touchdown and intercepted another, were rewarded with a game ball each.

With the withdrawal of Maidstone Pumas from the league with immediate effect, it is expected that the Eagles will receive a pair of 1-0 victories for those game, meaning the team has a 3-1 record at the moment, which shows a good start to the season for the newly formed team.

The Eagles will play the Kent Exiles in two weeks time, on the 11th May at Bedford International Athletic Stadium and are looking to go 4-1 against an opponent they don’t know a lot about, as this will be the Exiles first game of the season. Kickoff is 12pm and admission is £2, with a programme included in the price.

Check out some excellent photo’s of the game day here: http://www.glnphotography.com/galleries/2014-04-27-Eagles-Hornets/

Ouse Valley Eagles started their inaugural season in the British American Football Association National League (BAFANL) with a mistake laden defeat to closest rivals Watford Cheetahs.

It was a two minute spell that put the Cheetahs ahead, and it was a position the Eagles could not claw their way back from. The first two quarters saw both offences fail to make much groud but with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter an interception by the Cheetahs gave them excellent field position. Two plays later and the Cheetahs had put the first points of their season on the board, with the score 6-0.

The Eagles once again put themselves under pressure when failing to field a kick off, allowing the Cheetahs to recover it on the 21 yard line of the Eagles end zone. It didn’t take long for the Cheetahs to double their lead and at half time they led 12-0.

Much like the first two quarters, the third quarter was littered with fumbles and interceptions as both offences failed to get into any sort of rhythm. The final score came in the forth quarter as the Cheetahs returned a punt. Having failed to convert a PAT (point after touchdown) and a 2-point conversion after the earlier touchdowns, the Cheetahs finally put the ball over the upright to make it 19-0.

It was a disappointing start for the newly formed Eagles who have come into existence with Bedfordshire Blue Raiders and Milton Keynes Pathfinders merging at the end of the 2013 season. Head Coach Will White said after the game ‘Overall, D (defence) had a good game, but offence never got into a rhythm and football is all about rhythm.’

The Eagles will play London Hornets next week and Coach White is sure ‘we will come out firing on Sunday (27th April)’.

Check out some excellent photo’s of the game day here: http://www.glnphotography.com/galleries/2014-04-20-Cheetahs-Eagles/