LEEDS CELTICS

In their final regular season game, the Celtics played host to the York Centurions on Sunday, hoping for a repeat of their win last year. 

 

The Centurions kicked off to begin the game, with RB/LB Toby Richardson making a great return to near the 50-yard line, setting up the Celtic offence with great field position to begin their first drive. After some initial running plays made little yardage, a screen pass to RB Beynon allowed him to get to the outside and make positive yardage for the first down. QB Felix Titherley then kept the ball for a 30 yard gain on an option play, brought down just outside the goal-line, giving the Celtics a 1st and goal. On 4th down, another outside run from Titherley and Richardson was able to break through into the endzone to put the Celtics up by 6. 

 

The Centurions made some intial gains on their possession following the kickoff, although they were swiftly negated by a great sack for a 10-yard loss from DT Nick Jephson on 4th down, forcing a turnover and giving the Celtics the ball once again. However, the Celtics were unable to make ground either, and they too were forced to give up possession. 

 

After a run that went for no yardage on first down, the Centurions attempted to pass on 2nd. However, a sack from LB Jonathan Windridge popped the ball loose, where it landed straight into the hands of DT Theo Coleman-Brown who ran it back for a defensive touchdown! After another unsuccessful 2-point conversion, the score stood at 12-0. 

 

Continuing the good start to the game, the next offensive series from the Centurions was ended quickly by the combined efforts of Jephson and Windridge, who tackled the York running back for a loss as well as stripping the ball loose to be dived on by CB Ben Smith, securing another possession for the Celtics. 

 

Initially, the Celtics made good gains, with Titherley and Richardson advancing the ball downfield for a 1st down, although they were unable to make a second, and York once again had possession. For the first time in the game, their QB was able to get to the outside, and showed that he was dangerous in open space, making 20 yards before running out of bounds. These gains were once again negated by good work from the Leeds defence, as DE Rory Ellis tackled the Centurions QB for another big loss. The Centurions elected to punt, and a great kick had the ball rolling out of bounds near the goal-line as the Celtics took possession. After some small runs to gain some breathing space, Leeds tried to punt the ball away. However, some confusion over the alignment of players meant that the ball bounced off one of the players in the backfield, where it was dived on by a Centurion, giving them mere yards to push for the score. 

 

The York quarterback was able to capitalise on this, diving through a hole in the line for the Centurions' first points, making the score 12-6. However, on the Celtics' very first series after the following kickoff, a great run from Titherley seemingly confused the Centurions, and he was able to break away for a 50+yard touchdown, re-establishing the Celtics' 2-touchdown lead, the score 18-6. York tried to get another offensive drive going after the kickoff, but the half-time whistle blew before they had a chance to do so. 

 

After play resumed, following a series of possession exchanges, York were eventually able to maintain a drive, securing several first downs in a row and driving the Celtics back down the field, eventually scoring a touchdown and successfully converting it for 2 points, bringing them back into the game at 18-14. ALthough not quite as rapidly as before, the Celtics were able to eventually respond with another touchdown, to maintain their lead at 24-14.

 

The Centurions responded to this with a series of personnel substitutions, something that the Celtics could not match due to the small size of their squad. This fresh set of players, less tired than their Celtic counterparts, were able to capitalise on the situation and score another touchdown before the end of the third quarter, leaving the score at 24-20 moving into the final phase of play. 

 

Although the first half of the 4th quarter was mostly a stalemate, with neither offence gaining huge amounts of yardage, with around 5 minutes to go, the Centurions found themselves with good field position following a Celtic punt, and had the opportunity to take the lead and score. 

 

Whilst the Leeds defence held for the majority of the series, on a third-down play, the York quarterback found a running lane, and weaved his way into the endzone, taking a late lead for the Centurions, 26-24. Although the 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, the damage was done, and despite great efforts from the Celtics to move the ball down the field and try and retake the lead, the clock was against them; the final whistle blew too soon, leaving the Centurions 26-24 victors.