Sunday 27 April, 1997
Final Score : Claymores 10 - 21 Rhein
It was another below par performance from the Scottish Claymores as they lost for the fourth time in five matches against Rhein by a score of 23-10. A few German fans made the trip to Edinburgh on a dull and gloomy day on the pitch as well as the weather.
Game Summary : Less than three minutes into the game Rhein opened the scoring with a 15 yd TD pass from TJ Rubley to Bill Schroeder. Manfred Burgsmuller added the PAT. Nine minutes later the Fire added to theri score on a huge 39 yd TD pass from Rubley to Mike Dritlein. Safety George Coghill blocked the extra point but the special teams unit could not capitalise on the excellent chance for a deuce.
After no scoring in the second quarter, the second half began with Scotland's first points, a 32 yards field goal courtesy of Finn, Kari Gronroos. It did not however, take the Fire long to swing the momentum back to them when Ofodile caught a 13 yd TD pass from Rubley and Burgmuller added the PAT. Rhein extended their lead even more with a Burgsmuller field goal at the start of the fourth but it was Siran Stacy who finished the scoring with a 10 yard run the the endzone which Gary Parker converted for his first points of the season. By this time though it was too late and the fat lady was in full song and half way through her encore. The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for the Claymores mascot; Shuggy McGurk who pretended to beat up a Rhein supporter. Thankfully Shuggy was back to his old self playing with cheerleaders and messing around rather than just waving.
Defense : What can you say? They held up the run beautifully but stuffed up badly on the pass. That was the story of the day really, pressure on the QB by the D line was about the only highlight from the defensive unit. Once again no interceptions but our QB was not intercepted either. Not a lot else to say really.
Some good coverage and excellent run defense and QB pressure but the secondary desperately needs some work before the team heads off to the Waldstadion next week.
Offense : A big improvement from last week as the ball was actually moved around and they managed to make a few impressive drives. Spence Fischer put in a great performance going 22 from 35 for 227 yards. The rushing game is once again up to scratch with Siran returning to prominence in the backfield with 90 yards from 17 carries. Eric Smith and Allan DeGraffenreid came up big today with Rickey Brady proving himself a worthy tight end.
Special Teams : Wooohoooh!!! Special teams is back. Excellent perofmrances all round, what a difference a week can make! Wayne Lammle made an immediate impact with his punting raising averaging 44.8 yards a punt. Field Goal kicking was sound and even Parker's PAT must be praised. Returning although not so hot did remain steady with no turnovers or silly plays.
For a change I'm actually looking forward to watching special teams play next week! Perfect kicking and exceptional punting made this the strongest area of the Claymores game this week. New kicker seems to have provided that little boost that should swing the momentum towards the Scots.
Attendance : 11,166
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Claymores | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Fire | 13 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 23 |
Scoring Summary
1st quarter: RHE - TD, Bill Schroeder 15 yd pass from T J Rubley
2nd quarter: none
3rd quarter: SCO - FG, Kari Gronroos 32 yd, 6:47. Rhein 13-3
4th quarter: RHE - FG, Manfred Burgsmuller 20 yd, 0:52. Rhein 23-3
Boxscore
| Scot | Rhein | |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 16 | 22 |
| Rushes-yards | 25-111 | 37-208 |
| Passing yards | 213 | 159 |
| Punt returns | 3-22 | 2-4 |
| Kickoff returns | 4-79 | 2-31 |
| Interceptions ret. | 0-00 | 0-00 |
| Comp-att-int | 22-35-0 | 12-21-0 |
| Sacked-yards lost | 2-14 | 0-0 |
| Punts-avg. | 5-44.8 | 5-43.5 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 1-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 11-55 | 6-47 |
| Time of possession | 30:05 | 29:55 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Rhein, Carter 14-100, Powers 10-70, Clark 9-22, Rubley 4-16.
Scotland, Stacy 17-90, Fischer 6-15, Kaaiohelo 2-6.
PASSING--Rhein, Rubley 12-21-0-159.
Scotland, Fischer 22-35-0-227,
RECEIVING--Rhein, Schroeder 6-54, Ofodile 2-30, Dritlein 1-39, Powers 1-27, Clark 1-5, Foster 1-4.
Scotland, DeGraffenreid 6-76, E.Smith 5-53, Murphy 3-22, Couper 3-22, Brady 2-44, Stacy 2-8, Royster 1-2.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--Rhein, Larsen 43.