Great Britain’s College Football semifinals see huge upset plus defending champions return to final
This weekend saw both the University of West England Bullets and the Durham Saints punch their ticket to Great Britain’s BUCS National College Football Final game with wins in each of their respective semi-final matchups.
UWE Bullets 50 – Leeds Beckett 0
For the ninth straight game, the Bullets earned themselves a fifty-burger on their way to the National Championship game.
An uncharacteristically sloppy performance from veteran quarterback Jadrian Clark (Rhein Fire) saw a slow start from the back-to-back champions. Despite some strong running from KK Brooks (University of Pennsylvania, NCAA DI) and short pickups in the flats from ex-Ravensburg Razorback Jax Crawford, the Bullets found themselves unable to convert on two straight fourth-down attempts.
A quarterback-less Leeds Beckett side struggled on offense as tight-end Henry Rowland turned the ball over on his first snap, and the UWE defense ultimately proved superior to the Carnegie side throughout the game.
UWE’s third drive saw them reach fourth down once again, but this time they were more successful as Crawford brought in a spectacular toe-tapping grab in the endzone towards the back end of the first quarter.
Offensive struggles and another failed fourth down conversion took the Bullets late into the second quarter before scoring again, when Jadrian Clark hit AJ Mealing on a deep crossing route for a 70-yard touchdown. Zay Amaechi reeled in a pass from Clark for another score to put UWE up 24-0 after the first half.
Beckett continued to show no signs of success on offense as a lofted ball from Rowland saw UWE kick off the second half with a pick-six courtesy of CJ Wall to make the score 30-0.
Clark had clearly come into his own in the third period as he found Mealing deep once again for another score, before hitting Darrion Conrad on the run in the back of the endzone minutes later.
The Bullets topped off their fifty-burger with some razzle-dazzle, as Jadrian Clark passed the ball laterally to Brooks, who launched it deep for De’andre Rucker for their final score as they inch closer to securing their three-peat.
Durham Saints 21 – University of Nottingham Gold 10
Durham have come out with back-to-back upsets, beating SGS PRiDE in the quarter finals before this win over Nottingham, now having overcome two of the supposed top four teams in the playoffs.
The two teams faced off twice in the regular season, both times seeing Durham fall short of the champions of the North.
The first half saw the Gold take a 10-7 lead with a touchdown and a field goal, but Durham managed to flip the game around in the second half with two unanswered touchdowns to secure the upset.
The Bullets will look to pick up their third straight championship on March 19th as the Saints eye up another potential huge upset to dethrone the champs.
