The Stirling Clansmen American football team opened their season with a 38-14 win over the Herriot-Watt Wolverines.
The game started with a big kick return from Finlay Ramsay who capitalised on some excellent blocking to give the Clansmen great field position to start the game. A three and out from the Clansmen offence allowed Herriot-Watt to take the field where they were quickly stopped by a swarming Stirling defense.
The scoring opened on a deep pass from Canadian QB Jaxen Fischer to Cameron Gass, Jaxen’s first of four touchdowns on the day. Finlay Ramsay quickly followed up with a rushing touchdown to take the game to 14-0 before the end of the first quarter.
Jaxen Fischer took advantage of interim offensive coordinator Cathal Caldwell’s play calls, driving the Clansmen down the field three more times in the half. Cameron Gass reeled in another score while rookie recruit Erik Chapman took a short pass for a long touchdown, his first Stirling points.
Great Britain U19 American Football player Ben Grove pulled in his first Stirling touchdown to close out the first half, the Clansmen taking a 32-0 lead into the changing rooms.
Herriot-Watt came into the second half a changed team, locker room adjustments granting them an opening play touchdown on a long run by running back Ben Attah. Multiple three and outs by the Stirling offence forced the defence to put in a heroic effort to limit the Herriot-Watt attack to only one more score.
The game swung once more in the Clansmen’s favor due to a late score by Marci Habermayer who took a pass from Jamie Dooey to the house, shedding multiple defenders on his way. This revitalized the Stirling sideline and a recovered punt from Cameron Gass to end the game left the Clansmen in good spirits heading into a hotly anticipated match up with Edinburgh Napier.
MVP’s of the game
Team MVP- Joe Hall
Offence MVP- Jaxen Fischer
Defence MVP- William Stevens
Special Teams MVP- Finlay Ramsay
The Clansmen will return to the field in Edinburgh on the 19th of November against the Edinburgh Napier Knights.
Featured image: John Ryan
