Sunday the 7th of July saw the HoundDogs host, as they teamed up with their brothers from Kent Phoenix and East Kent Mavericks to form the South East Legion Team as they entained Cobham Cougars in the BAFA National U19's Division 1.
The pitch at Horsebridge looked stunning after overnight rain left the ground glistering for American Football's first ever 9v9 game at Horsebridge. Hellingly Rugby Club had agreed for the HoundDogs/Legion team to utilise the posts and the Cricket section allowed the team to use the Clubhouse.
The game started badly for the Legion, with the Cougars taking an early lead in the 1st quarter after a long punt return to take the score to 8-0. The Legion offence then took the lead and with a fumbled snap, Cobham pounced on and soon saw the ball in the EndZone again as their lead became increased to 14-0.
The game didn't get much better for the Legion as Cobham ran in another TD to take the score to 22-0. However, a few sparks from the Legion saw some great work from QB Jacob Boorer and his Offence as they marched the ball down the field with Charlie Horne running the ball in to score and then complete the 2 point conversion to make the score 22-8 at the half
The second half started with a great return from the Legion and then Boorer picked out Cameron Buggs to move the score to 22-14 and then complete the 2 point conversion to tighten the score to 22-16. In a game that ebbed and flowed all day, this time was Cobham who scored next and saw them extend their lead to 30-16 followed by the Legion getting 2 points from a safety to make the score 30-18. Again the Legion replied at the start of the 4th quarter as Boorer connected with Buggs again add another 6 points to the Legion scoreline 30-22. A large part of the drive was down to a fantastic catch from Riley Davis who picked up his first yardage of the year for the receiver as he demonstrated what he will be bringing to the 2020 Legion team. As the Legion chased the game Cobham picked off Boorer and score and then managed to get on the scoreboard again very late on in the game as the clocked ticked its way to the final whistle with the score finishing 42-22.
Head Coach Luke Boorer added "It's been a massive week for the HoundDogs club and all our partners in the Legion. We have had Flag Teams compete in different location on Saturday as well as today's game. It has been a very tiring weekend, but what a weekend it has been. We, the Legion have this year giving around 35 players the chance to play Football that looks like what the kids see on TV with the NFL and College, in 9 a side Football. All the players contributed in this game and this season as a whole. We finished with a record of 1-5 this year which just to get that win, some teams wait 3 or 4 years to do that. What was great about today was to get scoring. We haven't scored in the last few games, which has been disappointing as I know we had the offence that could put up lots of points on the board against teams. This game will really boost the confidence of the lads and although we lost we really came together as a unit and started to demonstrate that teams can work together, if coaches and management leave their egos at home and put the kids first. I really think we have made other club sit up and take notice. However, we are not finished. We will get all the coaches and management teams to sit down and start planning for next year, seeing what we did well this year, what we want to do next year and how we are going to put the plans in place to make that happen. I would like to thank all the players, coaches, Committees, parents and Referees for this season. It has been a real rollercoaster of emotions. It has been the 1st ever time I have worked with U19's and I loved it and will definitely be back next year."
The best of Eastbourne MVP's
Special Team MVP - Danny Townsend, some fantastic blocking skill demonstrated along with overall knowledge of the role he was set.
Offence MVP - Jacob Boorer, led the Offence well in getting the ball moving and actually started to move his legs as he picked up his 1st rushing yards of the season.
