Gridiron Victoria is back with the opening round of the colts competition in the books. The South Eastern Predators sent a message to the rest of the league with a massive win over the Northern Raiders.
The Buccaneers and the Crusaders got the 2017 season started down in Geelong under grey skies. The Geelong Buccaneers have not entered a side in the colts competition for 3 years but it did not show. The Buccaneers won a low scoring game over the Crusaders 16-7.
The Croydon Rangers and the Melbourne Uni Lions played out the game of the round in a seesawing affair played in Reservoir. The Rangers took an early lead over the Lion 12-0 as the game went into the 2nd quarter, but the game was about to turn the other way. The Lions found their groove on offence and piled on 18 points unanswered through the 3rd quarter as Melbourne Uni looked in control of the game.
Rangers quarterback James Dall tied the game up at 18-18 all but the Lions took back the lead late in the 3rd quarter 24-18 leaving the Rangers with some work to do in the final quarter. A tightly played 4th quarter game down to the last few minutes when the Rangers found the endzone on an 80-yard pass for a touchdown tying up the game 24-24. The match would come down to the two-point conversion which the Rangers converted taking the win 26-24.
As mentioned earlier the Predators took a big win 52-26 over the Northern Raiders.
| Croydon Rangers defeat Melbourne Uni Lions | 26-24 | Photos |
| South Eastern Predators defeat Northern Raiders | 52-26 | Photos |
| Geelong Buccaneers defeat Western Crusaders | 16-7 | Photos |
Bye: Warriors
All Photos come thanks to Barend van den Hoek who all clubs and Gridiron Down Under could not be more thankful to him for the amazing work he does each week, check out his website.
