The Abu Dhabi Wildcats bounced back on Friday to earn a 27-6 win over the Al Ain Desert Foxes at Dubai Sports City.
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Despite not having dynamic playmaker Vivaldi Tulysse, who was given the game off for rest, Wildcats got more than enough contributions from their other running backs to pound the Foxes’ defence.
Reginald Johnson got the Wildcats on the board first with a four-yard run in the opening quarter before Mou Fouda and Saber Belghith added short scores in the fourth.
“We just went back to fundamentals,” said Wildcats coach Charles Gillespie. “We just ran the ball, we knew it was something we could do. We have enough talent and enough depth to do what we wanted to do.”
Wildcats also added a touchdown with a back-breaking pick-six, 18-yard interception return by Bobby Admire in the third quarter.
Foxes, however, failed to go down without a fight. The final score indicates a blowout, but the Foxes had a chance to make it a one possession game in the second half.
Speedy receiver Ghazi Abdul Hakim returned a punt inside Wildcats’ 10-yard line and capped the effort with an eight-yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion failed, but the Desert Foxes showed life in clawing back to make the score 15-6.
Foxes coach Darrell Magee said: “We come with the smallest number of people, but we play until the end all the time.
“We have minimum people but maximum heart.”
