Gridiron Victoria Round 12 review

The business end of the season isn’t far off. How are our teams fairing chasing the final 6 spots?

The action kicked off on Saturday out at Endeavour Hills. It was going to be interesting to see how the South Eastern Predators were going to fair against the ladder leading Western Crusaders. Unfortunately Preds starting QB Bailey Tisdale wasn’t available for this one. So the outcome didn’t really give an idea of how they would go at full strength. The Preds tried multiple QB’s with no success on offense. Their D did score a Touchdown, but it wasn’t enough, as they went down 36-6. The Crusaders just keep rolling on.

Round 12 Highlights from Onside Kick Productions

We had 3 games lined up on Sunday out at Reservoir. The first mouth watering match up was between the last placed Northern Raiders and 6th placed Warriors Gridiron. Don’t let the ladder positions fool you. This promised to be another great encounter similar to round 9.

It was the Warriors who struck first on their first drive. Running the ball downfield to take a 6-0 lead. The Raiders hit back however, tying the game after the 2 point conversion was no good. It was the Warriros who scored again next. Once again behind a strong running attack, headed by veteran RB Luke Jackson. However it was the Raiders who took a 19-14 lead at half time after some fine scrambling (including a 65yd TD run) by QB James Phillips. The Raiders also gained some RB yards, thanks to the good work from the O line. The Raiders should however had a bigger lead at the half if not for a couple of picks thrown by Phillips.

In a tense 2nd half, which saw the Warriors wrestle back the lead 22-19. It was the Raiders Defense that ended the Warriors chances, with a pick to seal it.

Game 2 ended up being a forfeit by the Bendigo Dragons and Western Crusaders 2.

Photos by Pix by USSG.

Game 3 was between 2nd last and 2nd, Melton Wolves and Croydon Rangers. Last time they met the weather was horrendous. This time it was far warmer. The warmer weather just meant more points for the Rangers this time. A 32-0 lead at half time and this one was over. Final score 57-6 with the Wolves looking for something to finish the season on a positive.