Oct 2019

Reference: [1]

Report

On a bright evening in Ostend, the Belgian Barbarians were hoping to gain revenge for defeat to Ireland by 20-19 a year previously. 

Ireland received the ball to start the game with aggresive running from RB Jonathan Siri unfortunately undone by offensive errors. Irish wolfhounds punter Tom Donovan pinned the Belgian offense deep in their own territory, however, they sprung loose on an 80 Touchdown pass from QB Tomasz Firszt to Eric-Junior Hiernaux to open the scoring. Wolfhounds Linebacker Spencer McDowell blocked the extra point kick, however, to leave the score 6-0 to Belgium.

Pentalties and mental mistakes proved costly in a slow quarter for the the Wolfhounds, with injuries to starters LT John McDonald & Wide Receiver Sean McGoldrick, meaning replacements had little time to get up to speed.

Irish Wolfhounds continued with a heavy running game, but penalties continued to marr any offensive territory gained.Tom Donovan continued to give the Irish great field position with some big punts.

The Irish defense continued to shut down the Belgian offense, which persisted with a option run and screen pass plays. A long Irish Wolfhounds pass to WR Jahn Dasini was called back for holding at the line of scrimmage. The halftimde score remained 6-0.

Irish fortunes picked up in the third quarter, as another screen pass from the Belgians, was read perfectly by Irish Defensive Tackle Paddy Sweeney and intercepted, returning it 10 yards to the Belgian 25 yard line.

McMahon and Siri combined with strong runs to bring the ball to the 5 yard line, with a 4th Down and 1 yard to go scenario seeing Siri not only get the first down, but also run in for a Touchdown, with some great blocking by Center Dave Shaw and Right Guard Hassan Jaafar. Marty Caskey slotted the extra point to put Ireland 7-6 up. 

The rest of the third quarter saw the offensive stalemate of the first half continue. with fresh legs in Ben Arulogun & Chris Carson, the Irish found gaps in a tiring Belgian line, but the drive ended at the Belgian 20 yard line.

The Belgians were forced to try deep passes downfield and one was intercepted by Free Safety Alex Kusmirek, giving the Irish a chance to finish the game off, taking over on the 20 yard line of the Belgians. 

The Irish needed one first down to close out the game but unfortunately came up short and Belgium took over with 90 seconds left. The Belgians managed two first downs, causing hearts to miss a beat in the Irish camp, but Spencer McDowell managed to force QB Firszt into a deep pass into the endzone on a blitz, which was chop blocked by the Belgian RB, with the resulting penalty putting Belgium out of Hail Mary range. 

The subsequent play saw a Belgian WR tackled in-bounds on a 10 yard screen pass, and time expired, giving the Irish Wolfhounds a 7-6 victory.

Reference: [1]

Reference

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[1] Irish American Football association – Irish Wolfhounds (2019) Irish Wolfhounds 7 @ Belgian Barbarians 6 [Internet] Available from: https://www.irishwolfhounds.ie/event/irish-wolfhounds-belgian-barbarians/ [Accessed 23 September 2019]

[2] Irish American Football association – Irish wolfhounds (2019) Irish Wolfhounds Logo[Internet] Available from:  https://www.irishwolfhounds.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/www-favicon.png [Accessed 23 September 2019]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Sean Douglas (UCD & Ireland)

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish American Football Archive

Last Updated: 20 May 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.