Spartans battle but can’t halt Revolution
SHROPSHIRE REVOLUTION................. 39 HALTON SPARTANS ............................... 10 HE Halton Spartans kicked-off their 2017 season with a disappointing defeat at the Shropshire Revolution on Sunday afternoon.
Their opponents had ‘blown the cobwebs’ off after a very long off season, and this showed the further the game went on.
The Spartans won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball.
They started strongly with completed passes from quarterback Ricky Talbot to wide receiver Ben Hogan which saw them march 70 yards upfield.
The Revolution defence stood firm towards the end of the drive which saw the Spartans having to settle for a field goal converted by Matthew Fitzsimons.
After a pair of turnovers by both teams, the home team eventually landed a field goal of their own and the first quarter closed with the score tied at 3-3.
Shropshire soon took the lead early in the second stanza with a converted touchdown. And they added another when recovering a Spartans fumble and racing into paydirt.
Following a couple of drives once again seeing the defences on top and the clock ticking down, the Spartans had a breakthrough.
Linebacker Jim Williams intercepted the Revolution’s quarterback and returned the ball 30 yards to give the Spartans’ offence great field position.
The Spartans moved the ball well, the highlight of which was a great pass by quarterback Rik Lothion to tight end Steve Norton who rumbled up field for another 15 yards before being tackled.
Then deep inside the two minute warning, running back Craig Owen scampered into the endzone for the
T● touchdown. Fitzsimons booted over one-pointer and it was now a sevenpoint game heading into the second half.
During half-time, the Spartans coaching team of head coach Ian Beattie, offensive coordinator Jason Smith and defensive coordinator Simon Grice made a number of adjustments to take into the third quarter.
The Spartans’ defence in particular started the second half well, with safety Doug Laughton stripping the ball from a Revolution player and recovering.
Unfortunately, the Spartans’ offence were unable to make ground and were forced to punt after a three and out drive.
Shropshire then added another touchdown via a successful pass play to increase their advantage to 24-10 before forcing a two-point safety.
The final stanza saw the Revolution score very early to go up 33-10.
The Spartans’ defence then made further adjustments and continued to make more changes on field with great communication from captains Laughton and Billy Forrest holding the Revolution offence to a couple of punt-ending possessions. Unfortunately, despite a couple of completed passes, the Spartans’ offence turned the ball over with interceptions on two drives, and they were unable to score in the fourth quarter.
Despite the heat and being on the field for lengthy periods of the quarter the Spartans’ defence held strong until the very last play of the game when the Revolution crossed for their final touchdown of the game.
Speaking post-game coach Beattie said: “We made a number of errors during the game, and the Revolution capitalised on these.
“And despite a number of adjustments on both sides of the ball we couldn’t come home with the win.
“We now have two free weeks, before we again face the Revolution at the Select Security Stadium in Widnes, and will be working hard during this period to turn the result around at home.”
The contest against the Revolution is on Sunday, May 14. More details of that game in next week’s Weekly News.