The Norwich Devils vs London Olympians (photo-gallery)
[Devils 7 - Olympians 48] August 22, 2010

The Norwich Devils had to win this game in order to progress into the playoffs at the expense of the Essex Spartans. The conference itself finished with exceptional competitiveness as Essex , Bedfordshire and Norwich all finish with 6-4 records and only points scored separating them.

Norwich returned the game starting kick-off to the 50yard line and a couple of plays into the drive their QB ran a bootleg for 6yards, having caught the Olympians off guard. The drive fizzled out thereafter and they had to punt. Olympians replied with QB Tomi Biberovic establishing the running game and running back Toyin Omodara carried for 21 and 12 yards. Biberovic then connected with receiver Kenny Bello for 3 yards, Omodara ran for another 7 yards then running back Adrian John rushed for 10 yards before scoring a TD on his next carry. Kicker Chris Davies enhanced his reputation as the most efficient kicker in Div 2 with a converted PAT, 0-7 to the Olympians. Norwich started their reply convincingly and nailed a first down early in their drive however, a touchdown bound pass anticipated by Olympian DB Mark Finney was picked off for an interception, which he ran back for 30yards. Biberovic made light work of the ensuing drive with a 10-yard catch to Bello who juked his way for a TD, 0-13; the PAT was unsuccessful.

Norwich were still not phased and having recovered their own fumble pushed for a first down 15 yards in. Their QB then threw another pass for a second first down in the drive thus gaining some momentum and a 25-yard bootleg thereafter stamped their intent on getting back into the game. Olympians defence reset themselves despite giving away a penalty and halted this drive to end the quarter.

The Olympians response was emphatic from their 7-yard line at the start of the second quarter. Omodara rushed for 40 yards, Adrian John rushed for 12 yards, fullback Alex "Doc" Gabriel took respite from blocking and ran for 3 yards whilst receivers Bello and Chris Davies caught passes for 40 and 5 yards respectively. The only blight on this drive was a 10-yard penalty but Omodara rushed for a TD on his last run of the drive and Davies converted the PAT, 0-20. On their next possession, despite gaining 20 yards in penalties Norwich only managed a 3-yard gain before their QB was sacked by the Olympians linebacker Michael Omeru After fielding a good return from the punt the Olympians offence gave possession back to Norwich via a fumble. This gave the home team (Norwich) the impetus they needed, a 12-yard scramble by their QB was followed with a 22-yard pinpoint pass for their first TD, and the PAT was good; 7-20. Now they were on song and their defence started to pressure the Olympians offence. Biberovic went to the air on the next drive and hit Bello for 9 and 15 yards but with a TD behind them Norwich used their momentum to their advantage and nabbed an interception that saw the end of the half.

The third quarter mirrored the first drive for the Olympians and Biberovic handed off to Adrian John for 13 yards followed by a 46-yard pass to Davies who broke tackles to score and then convert the PAT and bring the score to 7-27. The next two drives for Norwich netted only 59 yards and no score but on defence, it was the making of a comeback despite the Olympians running back Toyin Dawudu rushing 15 yards, Adrian John 8 yards and Davies taking an 8-yard catch; Biberovic intercepted for the second time.

The fourth quarter was one of complete dominance for the Olympians defence and attack from the offence. Rookie receiver Jake Tedder took a 9-yard catch to start proceedings and receiver Folley Ogundele followed that with a 12-yard grab. Then Biberovic, after a 2 yard rush, went to the ground with rushing from Adrian John 8 and 11 yards. Rookie running back Jordan "Rudy" Stokes followed with a 1-yard run before scoring a TD but with an unsuccessful PAT the score was 7-33. Norwich on their next drive was restricted to a solitary catch by their receiver #85. The impressive running game of the Olympians took charge again, Omodara, on the next drive, rushed for 41 yards, Gabriel 5 yards, Davies, and Bello 7, and 11-yard catches respectively. Running back Dawudu then came on to rush 4 yards for a TD and the 2-point PAT converted by Omodara, 7-41. Norwich were now on the back foot as the Olympians defence were attacking as a swarm and back to back fumbles resulted in a turnover to the Olympians after DB Paul Barquinha recovered the ball. Biberovic went straight to the successful running game and Dawudu rushed for 14 yards before Stokes came on to run in 2 yards for his second TD and a good PAT took the score to 7-48 to the Olympians. Norwich launched another comeback within the last 2 minutes of the game but the Olympians defence held them back as time ran out.

The London Olympians have now officially clinched the divisional conference title and progress to the quarter-final playoff against the Berkshire Renegades on September 5th 2010 at Crystal Palace National Sports Stadium, kick-off at 1:00pm.