Sunday 18 May, 1998
Final Score : Claymores 27 - 24 Monarchs
A stunning finish to an exciting game providing only the second Claymores win of the season. Plenty to excite here, scoring, tough defense but also some dubious calls.
Victor Muhammed opened the scoring for the Monarchs with a 4 yard run just 3 minutes into the game for an early 7-0 lead. Claymores QB Jim Ballard replied 5 minutes later with a 1 yard quarterback sneak to level the score at 7.
However, at the end of the first quarter, it was England who had the advantge thanks to Alan Allen's 36 yard touchdown catch from England QB Josh LaRocca.
Once again, the Claymores levelled the score thanks to a 5 yard run from new addition, RB Vernon Turner for a 14-14 tie.
Undisturbed, England marched down the field to score on Josh LaRocca's 7 yard pass to Shawn Turner for a 21-14 half time lead.
Vernon Turner was on hand for the Claymores in the third period to level the scores at 21 when he scampered in from 4 yards out which Gary Parker duly converted.
The fourth quarter was a case of field goal after field goal. First, Don Silvestri put the Monarchs ahead 24-21 with his 42 yard effort before Gary Parker's 27 yard kick.
England's final drive stalled when DE Brad Keeney recovered a Josh LaRocca fumble allowing the Claymores one chance to drive for the win before heading into overtime. 4 plays and the Claymores were within field goal range with seconds left on the clock. Gary Parker lined up the kick, but the ball slips wide of the mark.
However, a penalty on England gave Parker a chance to redeem himself. Despite a slip on the run up, the ball somehow made its way over the bar to give Scotland their first lead of the game and more importantly, the win.
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
ENGLAND 14 7 0 3 24
CLAYMORES 7 7 7 6 27 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: ENG - TD, VICTOR MUHAMMAD 4 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 3:15.
ENGLAND 7-0
SCO - TD, JIM BALLARD 1 YD RUN (GARY PARKER KICK), 8:25.
ENGLAND 7, CLAYMORES 7
ENG - TD, ALAN ALLEN 36 YD PASS FROM JOSH LAROCCA (ROB
HART KICK), 11:16. ENGLAND 14-7
2ND QUARTER: SCO - TD, VERNON TURNER 5 YD RUN (GARY PARKER KICK),
7:42. ENGLAND 14, CLAYMORES 14
ENG - TD, SHAWN TURNER 7 YD PASS FROM JOSH LAROCCA (ROB
HART KICK), 12:24. ENGLAND 21-14
3RD QUARTER: SCO - TD, VERNON TURNER 4 YD RUN (GARY PARKER KICK),
8:34. ENGLAND 21, CLAYMORES 21
4TH QUARTER: ENG - FG, DON SILVESTRI 42 YD, 3:32. ENGLAND 24-21
SCO - FG, GARY PARKER 27 YD, 13:43. ENGLAND 24, CLAYMORES 24
SCO - FG, GARY PARKER 21 YD, 15:00. CLAYMORES 27-24
TEAM STATISTICS
ENG SCO
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 13 27
Rushing 4 9
Passing 8 14
Penalty 1 4
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-9 5-11
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 297 364
Total plays 47 65
Average gain 6.3 5.6
NET YARDS RUSHING 94 118
Rushes 21 30
Average per rush 4.5 3.9
NET YARDS PASSING 203 246
Completed-attempted 12-24 20-31
Yards per pass 7.8 7.0
Sacked-yards lost 2-16 4-28
Had intercepted 0 1
PUNTS-AVERAGE 5-44.6 5-37.0
RETURN YARDAGE 93 90
Punts-returns 1-3 4-27
Kickoffs-returns 5-86 3-63
Interceptions-returns 1-4 0-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 11-82 4-42
FUMBLES-LOST 2-2 1-1
TIME OF POSSESSION 24:59 35:01
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: None.
England rushing: Tyrone Edwards 8-44, Victor Muhammad 10-36, Reggie
Jones 1-14, Bobby Phillips 2-0.
Claymores rushing: Vernon Turner 27-111, Jim Ballard 2-4, Chris
Miller 1-3.
England passing: Josh Larocca 11-19 for 216 yards, 0 INT, 2 TD, Wally
Richardson 1-5 for 3 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
Claymores passing: Jim Ballard 17-28 for 220 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD,
Mark Grieb 2-2 for 31 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, Chris Brantley 1-1 for 23
yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
England receiving: Shawn Turner 5-66, Alan Allen 3-94, Reggie Jones
3-51, Obed Ayanbadejo 1-8.
Claymores receiving: Chris Miller 9-121, Vernon Turner 4-28, T
Davis 2-56, Nachi Abe 2-15, J.J. Smith 1-23, Chris Brantley 1-17, Scott
Couper 1-14.
England punting: Brian Greenfield 5-223-44.6-0-0-53
Claymores punting: David Wing 5-185-37.0-0-3-56
England punt returns: Toderick Malone 1-(-3)
Claymores punt returns: J.J. Smith 3-27, Vernon Turner 1-0
England kickoff returns: Bobby Phillips 2-57, G Harris 2-36, J Fiebiger 1-(-7)
Claymores kickoff returns: J.J. Smith 3-63
Attendance: 9,213.