Dubai Stallions ended Dubai Barracudas’ undefeated run, shutting down the top-flight offence for a 12-0 win at Dubai Sports City on Friday.
Stallions quarterback Chris Wentzel connected with wide receiver Askia Horne-Pierre for two scores, including a 43-yard bomb down the sideline in the first quarter. The lanky target used his height advantage to grab the ball at its apex, out-jumping the Barracudas cornerback for the walk-in score.
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“The defensive backs were there and I just had to make a play,” said Horne-Pierre. “We have the tallest receivers in the league and all you have to do is throw it up to us and it’ll be a fight after that.”
Barracudas coach Kyle Jordan said: “HP has been doing that for a couple of years now.”
Horne-Pierre later gave the Stallions insurance on a 14-yard slant for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Since Wentzel took over under centre in the Stallions’ third game, he’s shown strong chemistry with the tall wideout who also caught a touchdown in the quarterback’s first start.
“HP is the ‘Megatron’ of this league,” said Wentzel. “The fact that he’s tall, fast, mobile, agile, he has great attribute. You just have to throw the ball in his area and he’ll grab it.”
Stallions coach Anthony Daniels added: “I think we’ve got a very solid receiving core and we can be dangerous at any point.”
The Stallions appear to have found their permanent quarterback in Wentzel after using three different players at that position in the first three weeks.
“Throughout the season, we’ve been a little shaky finding a quarterback to deliver the offence and we finally found one and we’ve been executing well,” said Horne-Pierre.
For the Barracudas, their offence struggled throughout the night as quarterback Zavier Cobb had trouble hooking-up with his receivers on his many deep shots. The Stallions’ defensive backs blanketed routes down the field, including an interception by Josh Carlson in the final minutes to seal the win.
“I wasn’t expecting them to throw that often, especially deep,” said Daniels. “But we have two strong cornerbacks and we played well.”
Jordan said: “I think their corners were definitely on our receivers a lot tighter than they were the first game.”
After registering wins in their first three games to be the only undefeated team in the league, the Barracudas suffered their first letdown. But Jordan didn’t feel his team considered themselves unbeatable.
“I don’t think that we had big heads around here thinking that we were unbeatable,” he said. “It’s not about humbling, but guys can learn from this. They’re going to respond and come back.”
