With first place on the line, Dubai Stallions held off their city rival Dubai Barracudas for a 15-13 victory at Zayed Sports City yesterday.
The Stallions’ defence shut down the Barracudas’ attack and Zavier Cobb, intercepting the quarterback three times, including one in the final seconds, to seal the win.
It was nothing new for the Stallions’ defence, who have now allowed a total of just 19 points in their past four games, including a shutout of the Barracudas in their previous meeting.
“We’re a defensive-minded team,” Stallions coach Anthony Daniels said. “The way we think and the way our guys play is that when we have a lead, we’re going to win the football game.”
On offence, quarterback Chris Wentzel connected on a 53-yard bomb with wide receiver Askia Horne-Pierre early in the fourth quarter to take a 13-6 lead.
“We’re going to challenge people to hold HP,” said Daniels. “We’re going to throw to him two or three times per game.”
Asked if he was the best receiver in the league, Horne-Pierre said: “Every receiver feels like they’re the best. It’s part of the receiver ego. There’s definitely a lot of talent in this league. I wouldn’t say I’m the best and I wouldn’t say I’m the worst. I’d say I’m right in there.”
The Stallions opened up the scoring in the first quarter with Wentzel’s 4-yard keeper to go up 7-0 after recovering a Barracudas’ fumble.
Cobb answered on the next drive in the second quarter with a 26-yard pass to main target, wide receiver Michael Andersen, for the first of his two scores, making the score 7-6 following the failed extra point attempt. The two teams then traded turnovers before Horne-Pierre’s touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Stallions took a two-possession lead on a late safety due to a block-in-the-back penalty in the end zone. The Barracudas closed the gap to 15-13 when Cobb found Andersen again for a 10-yard score.
After using their timeouts and forcing a punt, Barracudas got one last chance to move ahead but Stallions’ defence held firm and picked off Cobb to close out the win.
“The issue is game after game, I keep saying the same things,” said Barracudas’ coach Kyle Jordan.
“We’re not getting any better it seems like and I put that on me as the head coach. The buck stops here.
“We’ve got to change some things in how we practice and how we prepare,” added Jordan.
Tulysse goes Wild in big win
Vivaldi Tulysse broke out and ran wild to lead the Abu Dhabi Wildcats to a 27-0 smashing of the Al Ain Desert Foxes at Zayed Sports City last night.
The dynamic running back couldn’t be contained and notched all of his team’s touchdowns, rushing for three and adding a late receiving score to complete his spectacular performance.
Tulysse found the end zone in every quarter and upped the level of difficulty each time with a seve yard scamper in the first, a 15-yard run in the second, a 24-yarder in the third and a 57-yard dash on a swing pass from quarterback Perry Blackburn in the fourth for good measure.
“Me, personally, I felt like I needed to step up,” said Tulysse. “I had a few injuries this year and this was the game that I needed to get my mojo back.
“We needed this game,” he added. “We needed to win this game and we needed to win big just to get our mind focused if we want to get back to the Desert Bowl.”
For Al Ain and coach Darrell Magee, the struggles and winless streak continued.
The Desert Foxes were playing at less than full strength as their shifty running back Ghazi Abdul Hakim was ruled out just before kick-off.
“Whenever you remove a guy who’s your premier guy, it always sets you back,” said Magee.
Tulysse’s big day was partly the result of an aggressive new defensive scheme employed by Al Ain. Instead of disrupting the Wildcats’ offence, the change left the Desert Foxes vulnerable after countless missed tackles, creating creases on the outside for Tulysse to exploit.
