Stirling Clansmen – 12
Napier Knights – 34
Coming off a 10-8 win over Edinburgh University last week, the Stirling Clansmen travelled to Sighthill, Edinburgh only to lose to the Napier Knights. This was a game with far more emotional weighting than last week, partially because many of the Clansmen have at some point played for the Napier Knights junior team, but also because Napier spent the whole game trying to get inside Stirling’s heads in an attempt to give themselves an advantage.
The Clansmen’s offense took the field first, and after a couple of unsuccessful runs they threw downfield and the ball was caught for a gain of around 20 yards despite Napier’s defence pressuring the quarterback. After a second straight game that started with a three and out for the Clansmen, their punt team came on to the field, but the punt was knocked down and the Clansmen fell on the ball, which was ultimately recovered by Napier, and their offense made their first appearance of the day.
Like the Clansmen, Napier started by running the ball, including a forced quarterback run after the ball was snapped too high for him to do anything else. After a throw downfield that went over the receiver’s head, Napier had another bad snap, this time their quarterback had to fall on the ball to ensure the Clansmen couldn’t take possession. However, this didn’t phase Napier and they proceeded to throw for 40 yards and a first down, and then run for another. Their snapping issues weren’t over though, and in the Napier quarterback’s defense, he managed to recover the low snap, fake a handoff to the running back, and then run into the redzone to get a first and goal, followed by another quarterback run for the touchdown.
The Clansmen’s offense took the field again, and Napier’s defense wasted no time, pressuring Stirling into throwing two incomplete passes and forcing them to punt, where they also heavily pressured the punt team. Napier’s next campaign was less successful, and they punted back to the Clansmen, who’s returner was tackled in their redzone. Stirling’s offense took the field at their own three yard line, which allowed Napier to tackle the Clansmen in the endzone and score a safety to put themselves up to 9-0.
While Napier’s defence was thriving, their offense was struggling against a Clansmen defence that held them to another three and out. The Clansmen took back possession for a few plays, including a run that gained them a first down, before the end of the first quarter. The Clansmen ran for two more first downs to start the second quarter, moving the chains downfield, before a throw that got them to first and one. Unfortunately, Napier weren’t the only team that struggled with dodgy snaps in this game, and the Clansmen’s was too high. Luckily they dealt with it well, handing it off to the running back who shoved his way into the endzone for a touchdown, with a missed extra point, but the Clansmen were at least on the board, trailing by three.
Napier’s offense ran for two first downs, and then threw into the redzone for a first and goal, before handing the ball off to run it in for a touchdown. A flag was thrown on the kick, a false start from Napier, and they replayed the kick, which then went wide right of the uprights.
The Clansmen received the ball, which was caught by the kick returner before a toss to the running back who shoved his way downfield to set the Clansmen up in a nice position to score on this drive. They continued driving down the field, a complete pass that got them to the 27 yard line, before the drive started to fall apart. First the Clansmen’s receiver went down with an injury, then there was a five yard holding penalty, and you could see the Clansmen starting to get affected by this. Napier’s defense saw their chance and struck, pressuring the quarterback into throwing the ball away, too high for any receivers to catch it, and the Clansmen – who could have scored a touchdown to take the lead – had to kick a field goal in an attempt to tie the game. Napier batted the ball down and the kick was no good, allowing Napier to take the ball at their own 20 yard line.
The two minute warning had passed during the Clansmen’s last drive, so Napier knew they had to work fast if they wanted to take a bigger lead before halftime; however the Clansmen’s defense was holding Napier’s run game to only a handful of yards – until they weren’t. Napier chose to run the ball again, despite their previous failures, and this time they took it 75 yards down the field for the touchdown, and their extra point was good, which extended their lead to 22-6.
Stirling took the ball back before halftime, and threw downfield, which Napier almost managed to pick off, but the ball wasn’t actually caught, which allowed the Clansmen to fall on the ball and retain possession. After another Clansmen throw that was too high to be caught, they set up to run the ball, before changing at the last minute to punt it, which may be why the snap was so low, and the punter had to pick it up from the ground before punting back to Napier to end the first half.
Second Half
The Clansmen kicked off the second half by attempting an onside kick, which was unsuccessful, and Napier took the ball at the 45 yard line, but the Clansmen’s defence came into the second half with a vengeance, sacking Napier on their first play, and it was clear they were much less affected by Napier’s taunts. They held Napier to a three and out and forced to punt. The Clansmen had a few good runs, before throwing an interception right into the Napier cornerback’s hands. Napier moved the chains downfield, with a few good run plays and a throw that set them up for a first and goal at the four yard line, which they ran in for a touchdown, but missed the extra point.
The Clansmen’s offense returned to the field for a brief moment before they threw yet another interception right into Napier’s hands. Napier took back possession and threw downfield with the receiver getting shoved out of bounds at the 4; they had a couple of failed running attempts before finally making it into the endzone for the fifth time today.
Napier’s run defense held the Clansmen to only a handful of yards, but they managed to throw downfield into double coverage and the ball was caught for a first down. After a couple of penalties, the Clansmen made it to the 11 yard line before they shoved their way to the one yard line, then ran it in for a touchdown. The Clansmen elected to go for a two point conversion in an attempt to slim the gap between them and Napier, but they were unsuccessful, leaving them trailing by 22. Napier’s next possession ended in a punt which was blocked, and the Clansmen took the field at the 46 yard line with just over five minutes left in the game.
Napier spent the whole game trying to get inside Stirling’s heads and this didn’t stop even when Napier were winning. The Clansmen fumbled the ball on a high snap that went over everyone’s head, and Napier recovered it with two minutes left in the game. Napier threw a deep ball downfield that went through the defenders hands, and was incomplete, leaving Napier to punt the ball back to the Clansmen, who had an uneventful final drive before the game was officially over.
Feature Image Credit: Melissa Thomson
Student journalist and Sports Editor for Brig Newspaper
