From bafa.org.uk
Great Britain defeat France in American Football clash
By National Programme
Nov 20, 2023 - 12:51:20 PM
Under the floodlights of the National American Football Academy Stadium in Amiens, the Great Britain Lions pulled off another amazing victory against the French national team on Saturday evening.
The Great Britain Lions have an outstanding record against the French team, having won all five of the meetings between the two nations. Despite this, France came in to the game highly favoured having recently defeated the current European Champions, Sweden, in a similar friendly fixture.
France opened the scoring on their first possession when quarterback Paul Durand connected with receiver Jeremy Larroque for a thirty-yard touchdown pass. The ensuing extra-point kick was blocked by Tom Barker. The Lions responded in the second quarter with a long drive capped by Gareth Dauley's four-yard touchdown run. But Ian Jacquet's extra-point kick sailed wide of the post leaving the score at 6-6 going into half-time.
Defense dominated the third and most of the fourth quarter until the stalemate was finally broken just four minutes from time. Great Britain quarterback, Stuart Franklin, scrambled to his right and fired a twenty-five yard pass to the endzone where receiver Ian Jacquet made an outstanding catch under pressure. Jacquet then kicked the extra point to make the score 13-6.
France had two more opportunities to win the game but the Lions defense stopped both possessions on fourth down to give the Lions a historic victory.
Great Britain Head Coach, Riq Ayub, said, "I am very honoured to be part of the achievement of this team. The players and staff have been a privilege to work with and it's their hard-work and dedication that has made this result possible. What we must do now is build on this achievement as we work towards the next European Championships in 2010."
BAFA National Programme Lead Director, Jim Messenger, said, "Head Coach, Riq Ayub, and his team have achieved amazing results with very limited resources. The dedication and resourcefulness of everyone has been outstanding. We are very lucky to have such skilled and committed volunteers. With the European championship just twenty months away, we will all be working hard to give the team the best opportunity to win in Frankfurt."
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