CUSAI Intervarsity – 19 March 2006 – University of Limerick Vikings 58 Dublin City University Saints 0
University of Limerick Vikings 58 Dublin City University Saints 0 – The University of Limerick Vikings won the first ever College Bowl with a 58-0 drubbing of the Dublin City University Saints. Not only was this the first ever Irish College Bowl, it was also the first ever game between two Irish Universities and the first ever game for the DCU Saints. After going 3 and out on their first possession the DCU Saints were then hit immediately with a trick-play by the UL Vikings which went all the way for a 48 yard Touchdown pass from QB Jeremiah Sexton and Wide Receiver Chris Bassitt. The quick TD fired up the entire Vikings team and the defense, led by Defensive End Eoin Carroll forced several 3 and outs. Near the end of the first quarter, Tight End Glen Carr scored on a reverse, breaking several tackles on his way to the endzone. Andrew Gordon ran in his second two-point conversion to make it 16-0. Again the Saints went 3 and out and Sexton, now in Linebacker role blocked the resulting punt, and returned it to the 10 yard line to finish the first quarter. Two plays later Andrew Gordon added a rushing TD from two yards out to his tally. Soon afterwards a tipped pass from Sexton to WR Micheal Ryan was caught in the endzone by Toomey who reacted quickest for another six points. DCU managed to start running the ball quite effectively on the ground but were never in close range of a score. with one second left the half, Sexton found Chris Bassitt in the corner of gthe endzone on 3rd and goal from the 8 yard line to make the score 36-0 at the half after yet another two-point coversion, this time from QB Sexton to Halfback Alex Smith. Despite this DCU never gave up and came out in the second half in multi-receiver sets, confusing the Vikings defense enough to move the ball quite well, however, when in Vikings territory a fumbled snap was recovered by the Vikings Defensive Tackle Declan O’Donnell. UL capitalized soon afterwards when Chris Basssitt, taking advantage of confusion in the Saints defense, to break free into the open and caught another Sexton TD Pass. Seamus Hogan added a 30 yard run to make the score 50-0 at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw both teams give their back-ups a go, and DCU had the better of the quarter, but still could not score and Seamus Hogan scored his second TD of the game with a 4 yard run up the middle and another two points was added by Michael Toomey to make the Final Score 58-0 to the UL Vikings. Despite the heavy defeat DCU battled all the way to the end and the experience of UL showed, particularly DE Alex Smith, QB Jeremiah Sexton and Safety Liam Ryan who were standouts for the Vikings.
| At University of Limerick | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
| Dublin City University Saints | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| University of Limerick Vikings | 16 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 58 |
| Team | Scorers | Score |
| 1st Quarter | ||
| ULV | Chris Bassitt 48 yd Pass from Jeremiah Sexton (Andrew Gordon 2xpt) | 0-8 |
| ULV | Glen Carr 21 yd Run (Andrew Gordon 2xpt) | 0-16 |
| 2nd Quarter | ||
| ULV | Andrew Gordon 2 yd Run | 0-22 |
| ULV | Michael Toomey 18 yd Pass from Jeremiah Sexton | 0-28 |
| ULV | Chris Bassitt 8 yd Pass from Jeremiah Sexton (Alex Smith 2xpt from J. Sexton) | 0-36 |
| 3rd Quarter | ||
| ULV | Chris Bassitt 7 yd Pass from Jeremiah Sexton | 0-42 |
| ULV | Seamus Hogan 30 yd Run (Glen Carr 2xpt from J. Sexton) | 0-50 |
| 4th Quarter | ||
| ULV | Seamus Hogan 4yd Run (Michael Toomey 2xpt) | 0-58 |
About the American Football Ireland Intervarsity Championships
The Jordanstown Jaguars, based in Ulster University Jordanstown played in the first full season of the Irish American Football League in 1987. The Trinity Bowl, played from 1992-1995, was the first competition played in Irish Universities, although it did not involve College teams. The Irish Collegiate American Football Association was formed in 1993, and played a Flag Football Summer Bowl over the Summer Holidays, involving both College Students and non-College Students. From 1998 to 1999 the Queen’s University Belfast Broncos competed in the AFAI Irish Senior League, and in 1999 the University of Limerick Vikings were formed, initially as a Flag Football team, and then from 2001 onwards as a fully kitted team playing uin the resurrected IAFL.
The First Colleges and Universities Sports Association of Ireland (CUSAI) Kitted College Bowl was played in 2006, when there was more than one kitted College team for the first time, namely the University of Limerick Vikings and Dublin City University Saints. The College Championship became a three-team tournament involving the Trinity College Dublin Thunderbolts and the University College Dublin Sentinels in 2010 (DCU were no longer fielding a team). In 2014 the Irish American Football Association took over the running of the competition from CUSAI after the CUSAI became Student Sport Ireland and renamed the College Bowl the Intervarsity Championship.
References
Images
[1] Wikipedia (2020) CUSAI Logo [Internet] Available from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/18/CUSAI-Logo-Only.jpg/220px-CUSAI-Logo-Only.jpg [Accessed 12 April 2020]
Internet Archive
[2] Irish American Football League – Wayback Machine Web Archive (2006) Vikings win Intervarsity Game [Internet] Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20060511235932/http://www.irish-american-football.org/19march06.htm [Accessed 24 October 2017]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Cillian Smith (Irish American Football Association)
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 6 February 2021
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2021
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