For the third time in four years, the Abu Dhabi Wildcats will play in the Desert Bowl after dethroning the defending champion Dubai Stallions to punch their tickets to the title game.
The Wildcats’ relentless run attack, featuring star back Vivladi Tulysse, powered its way to a 18-8 result in the first round of the Emirates American Football League playoffs on their home turf of Zayed Sports City on Friday night.
Tulysse wasted no time as he took Abu Dhabi’s first offensive snap for a 38-yard score and throughout the game found holes created by his
“Honestly, I was not expecting to take it to the house, but our line gave me a good push and it was open,” Tulysse said of his run.
“That’s one of the main things we’ve worked on is the offensive line. We’re getting better and moving guys around, so it makes it a different ball game.”
The big-bodied Jermaine Lattimore, who altnerated at quarterback with Bogdan Fagaras, found the end zone twice on a pair of 2-yard keepers – once in the second quarter and again in the fourth.
“We definitely wanted to establish the run game,” Wildcats coach Tony Robinson said. “We knew it was going to be a ground-and-pound type game.
“Those guys (Stallions) were good on defence, so we knew we had to establish the run game and really try to wear them down.”
Dubai tried to mount a comeback by finally getting on the board with a 2-yard quarterback sneak of their own from signal-caller William Robinson in the final period, but their ensuing drives were stopped short.
The Stallions struggled to defend their crown this season, winning just twice while dealing with player turnovers, injuries and fewer numbers than in the past.
“I’m proud of my team,” Stallions coach Anthony Daniels said.
“We fought the whole time and didn’t give up. We had a lot of injuries and even tonight I was missing some key players. I’ve never had my full team out and I think that was one of the contributing factors to not going to the Desert Bowl this year.”
In his first season at the helm, Robinson has led the team back to the Desert Bowl, which they claimed in the league’s first two years of existence in 2013 and 2014.
They’ll attempt to return to glory in a winner-takes-all showdown with the Barracudas at Dubai Sports City on March 18.
