‘What was billed as a clash of the titans stood up!’
by Slater Jackson via theroar.com
[su_dropcap]T[/su_dropcap]he Queensland Sundevils are the Australian Gridiron League champions after they dominated the NSW Wolfpack in the championship game 42-14. A hungry Sundevils team blew away the Wolfpack from the opening whistle as they outclassed their rival in every facet of the game.
What was billed as a clash of the titans stood up to its name even if the scoreboard was so inflated. The battle that waged between these two teams in the final will go down as one of the greatest played on Australian soil.
The Sundevils, piloted by quarterback Jared Stegman, were a well-oiled machine as they controlled the clock and scored points at will.
Their offensive line bullied the Wolfpack defence in the running and passing game. With great protection, Stegman was able to pick apart the Wolfpack secondary as he moved the chains consistently.
With so many talented receiving threats to defend, NSW had a hard time covering the field against Queensland.
With the Wolfpack exhausting resources defending the middle of the field against the Sundevils pair of dynamic tight ends, Brendan Stanley and Chris Ravlich this allowed Stegman to attack the outside.
He found his receivers Mitch Besse, Luke Edwards, Kyle Bowpitt and Josh Kent in one-on-one match-ups and took advantage as the Wolfpack could not contain the talented receivers as they made great plays deep on many occasions.
Luke Edwards continued his streak of incredible catches by taking two miraculous touchdown grabs.
On one of them he was at full stretch, barely getting a fingertip to the ball as he fell to the ground, but he kept his eye on the ball and scored. (see clip below)
Check out the highlights below; particularly the amazing catch at the 1:40 mark!
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The shortest drive the Sundevils had all game was right before the end of the first half. With 50 seconds on the clock Queensland had a chance to drive into scoring range.
Instead of keeping to what they had been doing, Stegman took to the air and delivered a 60-yard strike into the endzone to Josh Kent, putting a dagger into the hearts of the NSW players right before the half.
What made the Sundevils offense run so smoothly was the dominant play from their running game. As the offensive line created holes at the point of attack, the Queensland running backs Darius Holliday-Miller and Heath Greene broke off big runs routinely.
Heath Greene, who scored two touchdowns in this game, was nearly impossible to bring down with the ball in his hands, bouncing off tackles and breaking off big runs his day was capped with a 45-yard break out into the endzone.
As has been a theme for the Queensland secondary, they provided plenty of fireworks as they put numerous big hits on the NSW receivers. Andy Young and Damien Molloy showed once again why they are the best safeties in the Australian Gridiron League.
Shutting down the Wolfpack aerial attack with ease they forced NSW to revert to trying to make plays underneath and to the outside.
It was a game that will be remembered for a long time as both teams showed a high level of talent and have raised the profile of the sport in Australia.
Photos courtesy of the Australian Gridiron League.
