St Ouen l’Aumône Cougars rise to top of standings in France

The St Ouen l’Aumône Cougars are back in familiar territory atop the standings in the French Elite league after coming from behind to beat the Rouen Cougars 33-13  in Val d’Oise.

Quarterback Jonathan Baker threw for 267 yards and one touchdown, a pass to Evans Sodatonou, running back David Oliveira rushed for one touchdown and returned an interception for another. Isaac Amoako who rushed for 63 yards on the day, also scored on an 18 yard run. The defense forced a safety and Sébastien Torel kicked a field goal and four PATs.

For the Leopards, running back Jérémy Ditiere scored on a 37 yard run while quarterback Taylor Palmer threw a touchdown pass to Adrian Blanchard.

Rouen looked smart on the opening series of the game with Palmer marching his team to the Cougars 37 yard line and Ditiere stunning St. Ouen breaking for a 37 yard touchdown. But that was the only scoring Rouen would muster until late in the game.

The Cougars slowly took control of the game in the second quarter as Oliveira capped a long drive with a one yard touchdown plunge to even the score at 7-7. Then the defense stepped up forcing a Palmer fumble which Baker immediately converted, finding Sodatonou from 28 yards out, taking the lead 14-7.

The Cougars defense continued to play ferocious football, forcing a safety late in the second quarter and giving St. Ouen a 16-7 lead at the break.

The third quarter saw more aggressive defense from the Cougars as Guillaume Saint Julien recovered a fumble and Amoako scored an 18 yard touchdown on the next play to extend the lead to 23-7.

Then, with Rouen threatening deep in Cougars territory midway through the third quarter, Oliveira picked off Palmer and raced 76 yards for his second touchdown making it 30-7 and putting the game out of reach.

Palmer managed to guide the Leopards on a final scoring drive, connecting with Adrien Blanchard for a 12 yard touchdown but Torel added a 27 yard field goal on the final series to put the game away.

The Cougars are now 2-0 and will face the defending champion La Courneuve Flash March 4 for a true test of where they stand.

In other action, the Flash downed the Asnieres Molosses 29-3 while the Marseille Blue Stars earned their second straight win, defeating the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes 32-0.

Photos: St. Ouen l’Aumône Cougars