On Sunday, a considerable crowd watched the Stirling Clansmen take on the Newcastle Raiders in a competitive game that had both bright and dark spots for the home team.
Stirling won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball, but quickly gave up a safety when an errant snap went over the head of Quarterback Tom Whitehouse, giving Newcastle the 2-0 lead.
The Raiders continued their fast start when QB Henry Bulmer rushed for two touchdowns on consecutive drives, breaking contain and charging into the endzone to make the score 19-0.
A big hit from a Newcastle player on QB Tom Whitehouse took him out the game, forcing Cornerback and former junior varsity QB Jackson Holmes to take over.
After a rocky first quarter, both the Defence and the Offence stabilized, limiting Newcastle’s production while starting to move the ball on the back of scrambles from Jackson Holmes and hard runs from RB Finlay Ramsay.
Coming out of the half the momentum swung in Stirling’s favour. Buoyed by a huge catch from WR Cameron Gass, the Clansmen marched down the field. Finally making the score 19-8 on a run from Ramsay after some great scrambling by Holmes, the first points of the season.
Unfortunately, Special Teams mistakes put the defence in an unwinnable position even after some phenomenal individual efforts from players. Jackson Holmes even intercepted a pass after throwing a pick to give Newcastle the ball.
To put the game out of reach Newcastle managed to secure one final touchdown in the fourth quarter to make the final score 26-8.
Defensive coordinator Iain Mcfarlane said: “The score line didn’t reflect the performance.
“Overall we did a lot of good things and our defence looked very good.
“We had unfortunate moments with field position which ultimately cost us the game.
“This is obviously an area we will work on but there is more positives than negatives upon reflection.”
Team MVP was awarded to Jackson Holmes, for his effort on both sides of the ball.
The Clansmen will return to play the Durham Saints at home November 20 at 1pm on the 3G behind the sports centre.
Featured Image Credit: John Ryan
