The Limburg Shotguns, surprise finalists in 2018 for the Belgian crown, opened the 2019 season last week in convincing fashion with a 46-0 blanking of the newly promoted Tournai Phoenix in Belgium’s top league.
The Shotguns took the lead early with quarterback Jason Jackson continuing to perform as he did in 2018, throwing three touchdown passes and using his legs to elude defenders. Running back Michael David also had a strong game scoring two rushing touchdowns.
Head coach Jaycen Taylor, former Finnish Maple League MVP and All European running back, who also played in the game and ran the offense and defense, was happy with his team:
“The game went well, we played a very clean game only committing one penalty. Our D played a strong game forcing a safety and an interception. Their OFF got less than a handful of 1st downs. As always we can be better there were mistakes the other team just weren’t able to capitalize on them.”
Taylor was also pleased the the play of his defensive line:
“Our DL was the strength of the game. In terms of offense, we left a lot of yards on the field. But as a collective team, the first game went well. Now we have the Brussels Tigers so we have to have a good prep week and come ready to play.
The Shotguns stunned the Tigers last year, their first season in the top league, defeating them 40-34.
This is Taylor’s second season in Belgium with the Shotguns. When the Euro veteran announced his intention to move to Belgium and play for the Limburg Shotguns, he caught many people by surprise. He had just helped the Helsinki Roosters win their sixth title in Finland and was named MVP of Finland’s Maple League.
The 5’10”, 190 lb native of Hawthorne, California, who played for three years at Purdue University and won two Italian titles with the Parma Panthers (2011, 2012) and also played for Austrian powerhouse, the Swarco Raiders in 2013, simply decided to move to his wife’s home country of Belgium and put his football skills and knowledge to work to help develop the game.
What are your thoughts on the game and on the development of the Shotguns since you joined them last year?
“With the sudden success of the Shotguns, there’s been a lot of interest from different players. So with the increase in personnel we are able to progress more. New guys are bringing a different mentality to the game which is good for the newcomers as well as the vets. So I would say so far so good, An improvement from last year.”