Defensive battles in CIFFA Premier League

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 1 August 2019

The Cayman Islands Flag Football Premier League served up an exciting round of action with Week 4 games that kicked off on 27 July.

First up was Uncle Clem’s Wolves against Burger King Panthers. Being the two contenders for the finals in 2018, this match-up is always an exhilarating one. For the Panthers, players such as Andrew Frederick and Jordan Cacho stood out on defence, making majority of the tackles for the day. QB Brendon Malice ran in for the TD for his team, extra point conversion and a field goal kicked by Jon Pump. However, the Wolves offense proved to be the highlight for the day. With several touchdowns by Demetri Chambers, David Taylor and Peter Whittaker, field goals and extra point conversions scored by Ryan Ebanks, the game ended 23-10 in favour of the Wolves.

Up next, the Tribe Tattoo Sharks took on the Red Stripe Wolverines. Sharks struggled to move the ball on offense with several incompletions. However, on defence, they worked hard to try and stop the Wolverines from scoring, with several tackles from players like Alexia Walton, Alison Murphy and Bianca Hunt. Wolverines’ offense saw major runs from Ameilia Gillespie and Angueda Blake, Blake scored the only touchdown in the game. While on defence, the Wolverines prevented Sharks from scoring the entire game with tackles spread out amongst the whole team and a sack from Nekita Saintvil. Wolverines secured their second win for the season, 7-0.

In the second men’s game of the day, the Miller Lite Hellcats and Maples came out in a defensive slugfest. Featuring top defenders such as Damian Barboram of the Hellcats registering sacks on the day and Nigel Solomon of Maples both contributing with a key interception in during the match. On the offensive side of the ball the Hellcats, hoping to keep their momentum from week 3’s win found themselves struggling to move the ball against the Maples defence. Ultimately the Maples offense was able to find the end zone for the sole TD of the game with Jamie Stephens throwing a 20yard pass to Larue Nixon improving Maples record to 2-2 on the season while the Hellcats have now fallen to 1-3.

The final match of the day featured the Maples Jaguars and HSM Vipers. In this game Maples came out with another solid defensive effort, keeping the Vipers out of the end zone for most of the game with great tackling efforts by Angelica McField. For the Vipers, on offense, QB Lisa Malice found herself in and out of sync at times but was able to connect with Maggie Ebanks for the lone score of the game. The Jaguars did not find a way to score in this contest but seem to be improving week to week on offense, and with a consistent defensive effort will be a force to be reckoned with in the second half of the season. The final score in this match was 7-0 in favour of the HSM Vipers.

HSM Vipers and the Tribe Tattoo Lady Sharks faced off under the lights at the Annex field on Monday night. The last time these two teams met, the Vipers claimed the W, adding extra hunger to the Lady Sharks pursuit. From the first whistle, it was evident that the Lady Sharks seemed more posed and confident. Defence was strong on both sides, making the quarterbacks each work for each of the yard they got. Lilia Connolly and Bianca Hunt would make key tackles for the Lady Sharks, keeping their team fired out. Driving the reigns for the Lady Sharks was veteran Anya Edun, who brings a vast amount of leadership to her team. Edun would rotate passing to players in open spots, often favouring her standout players Scimone Campbell and Tyanna Jan, who despite being covered would find key yards when needed. Ericia Burke led the Vipers. After a failed field goal attempt from the Lady Sharks, half time would find the game scoreless and some wondered early if overtime would be needed to decide the game. During the 2nd half, Anya Edun connected with Tyanna Jan, delivering great field position for her team. This resulted in another field goal attempt. But that was blocked by the Vipers, denying them the lead. Ericia Burke answered with the rally of her teams and delivered key runs and throws. Veteran quarterback Lisa Malice, who was absent from the field for majority of the game, came in and found Burke for a touchdown, allowing the Vipers to take a 6-0 lead. Allison Murphy of the Lady Sharks blocked the Vipers extra point kick attempt, as the game ended 6-0 in favour of the Vipers.

Week 5 kicks off on 3 August at Ed Bush Sports Complex at 1:00pm.