College Bowl XVII

The game

Match report

From the club's own report

Stirling win College Bowl thriller

In what was probably one of the most exciting College Bowls ever, Stirling beat the Hurricanes in an open, offense dominated contest 22-17.

Stirling's Jon Sutherland and Herts Andy Cochrane were impressive on the ground, with both defenses struggling to contain them. Sutherland ran for 190 yards and 3 TD's while Cochrane chalked up 179 yards and 2 TD's.

The lead changed hands 4 times during the game, with Herts getting to Stirling's 1 yard line as time expired.

The Hurricanes got rolling in the 1st Quarter as Junior Price picked off a Gary McNey pass, setting Herts up with great field position. Cochrane finished the drive with a 3 yard rumble. Rob Kelly's kick was good. The Hurricanes defense quickly got to grips with Stirling's top rated offense. However, Herts couldn't capitalise as the offense stalled. It wasn't until late in the 2nd Quarter that Stirling managed to put a long drive together with Sutherland scoring from 16 yards out. Andy Fleming caught the 2pt conversion.

Herts entered the second half down 8-7. After receiving the ball the Hurricanes started to drive on Stirling only to be halted by a turnover. Stirling saw their opportunity and Sutherland ran in from 8 yards to make it 14-6.

It seemed as if both offenses were unstoppable now. The Hurricanes immediately responded with a long drive as Cochrane ran in from 5 yards. Kelly kicked the extra point. The game was tied at 14-14 going into the final quarter.

Both teams exchanged punts before the Hurricanes got rolling once again. Special teams maestro Rob Kelly kicked a 23 yard field goal to give the Hurricanes a 17-14 lead with only 5 minutes left.

Stirling responded with some fine running from both Sutherland and McNey, with Sutherland running in with only 3:50 left on the clock. Herts then engineered a 78 yard drive in 3 minutes 30 seconds. With what was thought to be about 20 seconds left on the clock, Ade Balogun and then Andy Cochrane bulldozed their way to the 3 yard line with the help of a face masking penalty. QB Junior Price spiked the ball to stop the clock and set up one last play to win the game. However, the Head Referee deemed that time had expired and Stirling were crowned as College Bowl champions.

The club would like to thank everyone who has supported the team throughout the season, the players, the coaches, cheerleaders, UHSU, support staff and fans. It has been another hugely successful year thanks to the efforts of Lloyd Buxton and the committee, Jim Messenger and the coaching staff and most of all, the players.