Saints relentless as they put Spartans to the sword

Article by Bury Saints

Photos by William G Watson

 

Four touchdowns from QB Fred Boyle and two big plays immediately after half time were enough for the Bury Saints to gain a 55-6 win over the Essex Spartans and continue their unbeaten run.

 

 

Essex won the toss and started the game in sprightly fashion with good gains on their first two plays. But a big tackle by DE Fab Mitchell for a 10yd loss set up an interception when LB Justin Gulley deflected a pass into the arms of fellow LB Jesse Carlos, who fell over.

The Bury Offence went to work straight away as RB Derek White broke for runs of 18 and 13yds to help move the ball to the Essex 6yd line from where RB Jake Swisher swept in for his seventh touchdown of the season. The extra point attempt failed but the Saints had an early 6-0 lead.

A key tackle by LB Adam Griffin soon forced Essex to punt on their next drive. Strong running by RB’s White, Swisher and Chris May, plus a 16yd pass from QB Boyle to WR Brandon Faison moved the ball to the Essex 19yd line. But unfortunately the Saints fumbled the ball away on the next play to end the drive.

 

With the Saints defence dominating it wasn’t long before the offence had the ball again. DE Mitchell made a key play to force Essex to Punt but DE Spencer Renfro blocked the kick and the ball was recovered by Special Teams Captain Kevin Greer at the Essex 15yd line.

The first Quarter ended as penalty against the Saints cancelled out a big run by RB Ramsey Orr and moved the ball back to the Essex 20yd line.

 

But the extra distance just gave QB Boyle more room to work in and he found WR Faison with a 20yd scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter. The extra point attempt failed again but the Saints had 12-0 lead.

The next Essex drive got off to a promising start but a tackle by DE Renfro, for a loss of 10yds, forced another punting situation disaster for the Spartans. This time the Punter dropped the ball and it was pounced on by DE Mitchell.

Two runs of 13 and 7yds by RB Orr, and penalty against Essex moved the ball to the Spartans 17yd line. RB DiShawn Harvey picked up 5yds before good defence by the away side forced Bury to attempt a 40yd Field Goal which was missed wide left.

 

Essex struggled to move the ball on their next drive and a successful punt left Bury in excellent position. But it was the Saints turn to misfire as a fumble was scooped up by a Spartans defender and returned 28yds deep into Bury’s half.

Good defence by DE Renfro and LB’s Gulley & Griffin looked to have ended the threat. But on 4th Down Essex threw deep and the pass was caught in the end zone for a 29yd score. The extra point attempt failed leaving Bury with a narrow 12-6 lead.

Powerful running by RB’s May and Swisher sandwiched a 9yd Reverse by WR Faison and moved the ball into the Essex half. QB Boyle then threw deep to WR Faison for a 30yd gain before RB Swisher barrelled his way to the 5yd line.  On the next play QB Boyle picked out WR Evin Reese slanting into the scoring zone for his second touchdown pass. Matt Trede kicked the extra point and the half ended with the Green & Gold leading 19-6.

 

Conscious of what had happened in the first game against Essex, where the Spartans had rallied from being 19-0 behind at half time, the Saints Coaches worked hard to ensure that their players started the second half at full speed.  And that hard work paid off on the first play of the half when RB White broke outside before cutting back, breaking through several would be tacklers and then out sprinting the Essex Secondary for an explosive 58yd run. Extra point failed but the Saints had extended their lead to 25-6.

With momentum fully on their side, the Saints kicked off to the Spartans. But as the Essex Returner ran for open space, WR Alex Clark burst past the Spartans blockers to force a fumble which was gratefully fallen on by fellow WR Axl Rodwell at the away teams 6yd line. Three plays later QB Boyle hit WR Andrew Olvera at the back of the end zone for his third scoring pass of the game. Once again the extra point attempt failed but Bury were up 31-6.

 

Multiple penalties and 10yd loss on a fumble forced by DT Jeremy Tompson pushed Essex back inside their own 10yd line. On 3rd down the Essex QB threw deep but missed his receiver and CB Willie Sloan intercepted the pass and returned it 40yds into the end zone for another Bury touchdown. RB Micheal Sternberg ran in the extra points attempt and the home side led 39-6.

Essex soon had to punt again and Bury started their next drive at their own 32yd line. Runs of 5 and 7yds by RB Sternberg, a 4yd rumble by RB Orr and a crucial 4yd burst by RB Chris May on 4th down soon had the ball in the Essex half as the 3rd Quarter ended.

 

A 13yd run by RB Harvey opened the final quarter and a short pass to WR Clark had the ball at the Essex 9yd line from where QB Boyle found WR Faison in the corner of the End Zone. RB Sternberg powered in for the extra points and a 47-6 lead.

With score difference now greater than 35, and despite a request from Essex HC Benton not to do so, the Referees had no choice but to initiate the dreaded Mercy Rule and rob players of both sides of some hard earned playing time.

The Spartans Special Teams woes continued on their next drive as Punt snap sailed over the head of the punter and out of the back of the end zone for a Safety and another 2 points to the Saints.

With Cameron Stewart now at QB, RB Harvey broke down the right sideline for a 22yd run before RB Sternberg bulled his way to the Essex 7yd line, a pickup of 17yds. RB Swisher swept in on the next play to make the score 55-6.

There was just time left in the game for DB Nick Barker to intercept a wayward Essex pass, and for QB Stewart to hook up WR Rodwell for a 19yd pass & TE Pete Hannon for a short gain before time expired.

 

Saints Head Coach, Chris Wallis, said, “This is a cracking result for us. Essex are a physical well coached team and I’m really proud of the way our players prepared for this game.

 

The two big plays just after half time finished the game. We were leading 19-0 at half time in our first game with Essex at the beginning of the season. But they scored twice in the 3rd quarter and we had to hang on for dear life to secure the win. So during the break we asked the players for something more and they responded superbly. I think we caught Essex knapping and pulled away after that.

 

We scored a team record 55 points and all three phases of the team contributed to that. Our Defence dominated as usual and the Defensive Line made some big plays when they were needed. I’m pleased with how our passing game is coming together and the Offensive Line stood up well against a lot of pressure. Essex will be disappointed with their performance on Special Teams but our coverage unit did a great job shutting them down.”

 

Bury travel to play the London Hornets in a crucial match up on the 28th June and then face the Wembley Stallions at home on the 5th July.

 

Wallis cautioned, “Our season gets tougher every game and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We know the Hornets are desperate for revenge and are waiting for us. They are a very good team so it’s time to knuckle down and work even harder.”

 

Full details of the games will appear on the Saints web site at burysaints.com and their social media sites.