The Croydon Rangers took out their 5th Senior Championship on Saturday night at the Latrobe City Sports & Entertainment Centre, winning VicBowl XXXI by a score of 16-7 over the Monash Warriors, raising the Maurice MacAllister Henkels Cup. The VicBowl win adds to the silverware gathered at the 1995 GAV Championship, and the 1997, 1998, and 2004 VicBowls.
The Rangers started the match strongly, with Prince Coleman continuing his run of great form, intercepting the pass from Warriors QB Don Dearman on the games second play from scrimmage. Two plays later, on the back of VicBowl MVP RB Jordan Beck, the Rangers had progressed the ball 50 yards and set up an early scoring opportunity with a 1st and Goal from the 7 yard line.
Two runs and a broken up pass later, and the Rangers were settling for a 23 yard field goal attempt. A clean snap and hold, but unfortunately kicker Dylan Atwell sent it just wide to the left; it would however be his only blemish for the day.
The Warriors kept the ball on the ground during the second series, reeling off five consecutive runs at an average of 8 yards a carry; it appeared that the Warriors had woken up and come to play. The sixth run however resulted in a fumble, with John Elliott recovering for the Rangers. Jamie Stafford connected with Alex Franklin and Ian Box and the Rangers found themselves in the Red Zone once again. Stafford went to the air for the 3rd straight time, however was picked in the end zone.
The Rangers, and the entire league, know that against the Warriors, you must make the most of your opportunities if you want to win. The Warriors marched the field on the following series, chipping away with small gains, interspersed with a couple big plays. A solid goal line stand ensued, but couldn’t keep out the Warriors push and a 1 yard TD run broke the deadlock early in the second quarter. The extra point kick was good, Warriors up 7-0 with 10:30 left in the 2nd.
The Rangers started the following series with good field position, on the back of a 19 yard return from Prince Coleman. The series never gained much momentum and resulted in a punt, with the coverage team preventing any return by the Warriors, and the ball being downed on the 23 yard line by Jacob Twohig.
The Warriors again marched the ball effectively down field, with the Rangers tightening the defensive grip as the Warrior approached the Red Zone. The Warriors, on a 4th and 3, elected for an unsuccessful 32 yard Field Goal attempt, falling short.
The Rangers moved the ball 40 yards on the ensuing drive, before stalling at the Warriors 41 yard line. Staring at 4th and 14, with under a minute left in the half, the Rangers went for it; unfortunately QB Jamie Stafford was sacked, and the Warriors got took possession of the ball near mid-filed, and a shot at increasing the lead before half time.
A big sack on first down to Aaron Smith and Richard Garraway lead to the Warriors using their 3rd and final timeout to stop the clock with 37 seconds left in the half. A pair of incomplete passes and a delay of game saw the Warriors at 4th and 17, looking to punt the way and hold on to the lead going into the half. A high snap over the head of the punter left the Rangers pursuing the ball, pressuring the punter into a low snap punt recovered by Jaye Anderson on the Warriors 17 yard line, a loss of 23 yards on the play. With 14 seconds left on the clock, the Rangers went to the air, Stafford connecting again with Box who retained composure to secure the pass in the End Zone after being deflected by the Warriors defender. With Atwell sending the ball through the uprights for the conversion, the game was tied at 7-7 at the half.
The Rangers started with the ball in the second half, on the back of a 14 yard Alex Franklin return. Getting the ball almost to mid-field, the Rangers punted away their first possession of the half with Box dropping a bomb that was downed by Coleman on the 10 yard line, backing the Warriors up once again. The Warriors worked their way out of danger, before punting the ball away at mid-field. This back and forth would continue one more series, with the Rangers working to mid-filed before punting away. Yet another great punt from Box, and hustle from the punt coverage team, saw Jon Johnston down the ball on the Warriors 5 yard line. Two runs later saw the Warriors seemingly out of trouble, 1st and 10 on their own 15 yard line. However, following a sack by Dakota Summers and an offensive pass interference call, the Warriors were back up at 4th and 14 on their own 11 yard line. For the second time in three series, the long snap went over the head of the punter, and out the back of the End Zone, gifting the Rangers a safety and the 9-7 lead on the first play of the 4th quarter.
With the Warriors kicking off from their own 20 yard line, the Rangers were looking to start the following drive with good field position, and Coleman’s 27 yard return across mid-field saw the next drive start on the Warriors 44 yard line. The safety was likely the turning point of the game, with the Rangers playing with the belief that the game was in fact theirs for the taking. The series however stalled, and the Rangers found themselves looking at a 3 and out scenario. On the Warriors 38 yard line, the Rangers looked to covert the 4th and 4 opportunity. Knowing the Warriors would bring everything to get the stop, the Rangers showed great discipline to go on two for the first time of the day, and picked up the first down on an offside with contact penalty. That would be enough to reboot the drive, with a series of runs to Beck and Stafford, and a completion to Coleman bringing up a 2nd and Goal from the 6 yard line. Another hard count saw the defensive line retreating on the snap and FB Matt Jan ran in untouched for the score. Again, Atwell kicked true to provide the 16-7 score with 6 minutes left in the match.
Atwell would come up big again on the ensuing kick-off, with the coverage team biting on the fake reverse hand-off. Atwell, the kicker, was the last man left, tackling the return man on the Rangers 30 yard line, saving a certain touchdown. It was the starting position of the night for the Warriors, and following a facemask penalty, the Warriors were looking to close the gap with a 1st and Goal opportunity from the 9 yard line.
The Rangers Red Zone defence would again stand up, with tackles to Mark Doyle and Elliott, before Darren Johnston stuffed the run up the middle on 3rd down, and getting the Warriors to use their 2nd timeout for the half. Staring at 4th and Goal from the 2 yard line, and needing two scores to win, the Warriors elected for a 19 yard field goal attempt. Doyle, who had made the goal line stand his own, would come up with the play of the night, blocking the field goal attempt, with Damian Vanterpool wrapping up the kicker who had taken possession of the loose ball, preventing a broken play touchdown.
With 4 minutes left on the clock, the Rangers started the drive on their own 25 yard line, needing a first down to take precious time off the game clock. At 3rd and 3, Stafford attempted at QB keeper, but was stopped just short of the first down with the ball spotted 6 inches from the line to gain. The Rangers let the play clock run down to zero and took the delay of game, removing any option to go for the 4th down conversion. This would be Box’s fourth and final punt for the evening, and again there would be no return with Jon Johnston tackling the returner before any yardage could be gained. 4 punts, 0 return yards, average of 36 yards, 2 downed inside the Warriors 20 yard line.
With time running down, the Warriors drove the field, passing accurately as the Rangers secondary played safe, avoiding giving up the big play. The Warriors were quickly inside the Red Zone, 1st and 10, 12 yards out. Once again, the Rangers defence would stand up strong when back-up to their own End Zone. An incomplete pass, and a huge bat down at the line by Darren Johnstone brought up 3rd down, where Coleman book ended the night with his second interception, icing the game for the Rangers who were able to kneel it out.
Special Thanks to the Croydon Rangers Gridiron Club for providing the game wrap up.
