Great Britain: UWE Bullets dominate SGS PRiDE in season opener
The University of West England Bullets opened their season with an electric 60-0 home win over local rivals, SGS Academy PRiDE.
To describe the performance as ‘dominant’ would be an immense understatement as the Jadrian Clark (Rhein Fire) led offensive unit didn’t miss a beat, scoring on every drive aside from the final possession of the game.
The Bullets opened up the game with a statement, as Karekin ‘KK’ Brooks (University of Pennsylvania, NCAA DI) returned the opening kickoff into SGS territory before Clark and his star-studded offense took the field for the first time of the year.
Although the ELF MVP looked out of stride in his first drive, missing easy throws and looking off-rhythm, the defending champions made light-work of the new-look PRiDE defense. A key pass to AJ Mealing (Midland Valley HS Mustangs, USA) set the home side up near the goal line, where Clark found Jason-Matthew Sharsh (Hawai’i, NCAA DI) on a speed-out to open the scoring. Clark found D’Andre Rucker (Shaw University, NCAA DII) for the two-point conversion to put the Bullets up 8-0.
The rest of the game was much the same story, as a three-and-out from SGS gave the ball back to UWE and the onslaught continued.
After a big run from Brooks, Clark was able to find Sharsh deep for his second score before hitting Terrell Jones (Hamline University, NCAA DIII) wide open for the conversion. The following drive saw a muffed punt snap go out the back of the endzone to tally up another two-points for the Bullets.
Sharsh would go on to score another receiving touchdown, followed by a KK Brooks rushing score from wildcat. British wideout Harry Buckland (Formerly of SGS PRiDE, Swindon Storm) converted both scores.
WR Jason-Matthew Sharsh from Hawaii scored 6 TDs Photo: Andy Watts
SGS began to find success towards the end of the second quarter with a handful of excellent returns from Dom Donoghue and a pair of big completions downfield. A dropped ball in the endzone, however, killed momentum.
Jadrian Clark would find Rucker contested at the back of the endzone for another touchdown, before a deep corner route to Sharsh would give the ex-Rainbow Warrior his fourth of the day and put the Bullets up 48-0 going into halftime.
With the ‘mercy rule’ giving the PRiDE a running clock, the second half saw a slowing of pace from the away side. They found moments of success, such as a big scramble from quarterback Anthony Wilson, but nothing would amount from it.
With the game well and truly wrapped up, it was clear the Bullets were having a lot of fun; a screen pass to Sharsh saw him reverse field at the halfway line, finding daylight all the way to the end zone. Unfortunately for Sharsh, a premature celebration would have his score called back. The next play, however, Clark found him in the corner for his fifth receiving score.
As if conceding over 50 points up wasn’t enough, SGS made the mistake of punting straight to Sharsh, who span out of a tackle and hit the sideline all the way to the endzone for his sixth touchdown of the day.
The Bullets will play host to the 1-1 Birmingham Lions next weekend, while the PRiDE will aim to bounce back as they have two weeks to prepare before hosting the Lions on November 26th.
