The London Olympians vs Norwich Devils (photo-gallery)
[Olympians 36 - Devils 0] May 9, 2010

On their first drive, the Olympians went to the running game and running back Forrester Osei marched the ball deep into the Devils territory. The 43-yard rushing accumulation however came to a halt when an interception by the Devils forced an early turnover for the visiting team. The interception placed the devils on their own 10 yard line. The defence of the Olympians started with a sound tempo and defensive lineman Darren Whitney flushed the opposing QB out of the pocket thus forcing an incomplete pass. A false start thereafter made sure the Devils would have to punt after three downs and returner Aaron Price returned the ball back into Devil red-zone (12yard line) after a 42-yard run. Olympians thereafter got no purchase from the drive but elected to try a 37 yard field goal on fourth down and kicker Chris Davies nailed it perfectly for the game’s opening score, 3-0.

On defence, the Olympians played what would be termed in basketball as a ‘full court press’ to render the Devils running game fairly ineffective. Linebacker Michael Omeru’s sack on the Devils QB pushed the visitors to another 3 and out with a bad punt snap resulting in the kicker being tackled on their 7yard line by Adeodatus Ronie Twumasi. From this position running back Osei ran a TD on the Olympians subsequent drive to increase the score to 9-0, the PAT was no good. The Devils again had a non-productive drive, the Olympians took over, and a deep catch from QB Tomi Biberovic to wide receiver Daniel Jeanton was run in for a TD with Davies converting the PAT, 16-0.

On the kick-off to the Devils Price kept the ball in play at the one yard line, before it bounced into the end zone, and Adeodatus Ronie Twumasi recovered possession for the Olympians. Osei then obliged with his second rushing TD for the day and Davies converted the PAT, 23-0. Price then gave the Olympians another great possession this time recovering the following kick-off but despite a good run from running back Seun Shobande and catch by receiver Karim El-Sayed the Devils defence held firm.

Noteworthy on the visitors’ next possession was a crunching tackle from DB Taiwo Bello on one of their wide receivers, which forced them to punt, and Price had another great return into opposition territory. Defensive lineman Etienne Thomas-Jones later matched this tackle in the 4th quarter on a running back sweep. The next Olympians play saw QB Neale Canning hit receiver Folley Ogundele for a TD but the PAT was no good, 29-0. The Devils managed to get a fruitful drive going but ran out of time for the half.

The third quarter start was very positive for the Devils and their drive saw 2 first downs and progression into Olympians territory however a touchdown bound pass was intercepted by DB Mark Finney and advanced 25yards to the Devils 30yard line. The Olympains were now giving serious game time to the depth chart and were able to use three QB’s and were able to give field time to all defensive players.

Olympians head coach Warren Smart then went back to the rushing game for the fourth quarter and fullback Alex ‘Doc’ Gabriel pounded 30+ yards to move the ball halfway into Devils’ territory. Not long after receiver Ogundele took another TD catch and the PAT converted by Davies to end the scoring as 36-0. There were only two significant drives in this quarter for the Norwich Devils but no scoring achieved. The Olympians on their last drive brought in QB Richard Francia who scrambled for 6 yards, mixed running from tailback Toyin Dawudu and picture perfect receiving by Jeanton. At the point of threatening to complete a game ending TD the Devils corner stepped in for an interception but the game soon ended thereafter.

After the game Coach Smart commended his Defence. “We were able to put pressure on the Devils backfield all day and this meant our Offence had great starting position for many of their drives. The pressure from the defence allowed our Offence to give valuable time to third and fourth string QB’s.”

The next game, Sunday 16th May, is against the Essex Spartans starting at 2:30pm - Crystal Palace National Sports Stadium.