Oxford University Lancers - Oxford Brookes Panthers

It was a blustery afternoon in Wheatley, the day that saw the clash between the crosstown rivals and former members of the Oxford Cavaliers: The Oxford University Lancers and the Oxford Brookes Panthers. HC Andy McKenzie talked to the Lancers about adversity on the day against a skilled and tough opponent, and how our team would respond.

It was a tense and physical matchup, pitting high desire and brute force on both sidelines, and by both sides of the ball on each team. The tone was set from the first play, with a 30 yd kick return by the Panthers, giving them a good field position. The Lancers' defense were physical, but couldn't stop the Brookes QB from executing a good PA fake and finding his TE open in the endzone. Panthers 6 - 0 Lancers.

Thereafter, the game tightened up: both defenses stuffed the run and didn't give either teams' QB much time to throw the football. Special mention goes out to Lancers' punter Alex Dale, who kept giving the defense good field positions all game.

This punch up continued past half time, but the game started to open up in the 3rd quarter. RB Jonny 'Priest' Brooks-Bartlett was able to break off a 40 yd run, but penalties on subsequent plays killed the drive, meaning the Lancers turned the ball over on downs.

In the fourth quarter, the Lancers defense were able to get the ball on the Panthers' 35 yard line after good pressure from our defensive line. After a tough day of passing, QB Will Szymanksi responded to HC McKenzie's warning about adversity with a perfectly thrown swing pass to RB 'Priest', giving him the space to run past the Brookes' defense. The Lancers tried for a PAT, but the kick was blocked. At this point, the game was tied 6-6.

The Brookes offense responded with a long drive, exploiting open quick slants against the Oxford secondary, leading to a short TD run by their fullback. Luckily, despite this adversity, they weren't able to convert on the 2-pt try. Panthers 12 - 6 Lancers.

The Lancers' resiliency showed up, responding to this drive with a long TD drive of its own - ending with a wide open 30 yard TD pass to TE Alex Dale on the seam. The resulting 1-pt conversion gave the Lancers their first lead of the game. Panthers 12 - 13 Lancers.

This extra point proved instrumental, sealing the Oxford Lancers' comeback win. The Panthers offense stalled from then on. Special mention goes to DB Andrew Hartland, who tackled their QB on 4th down. However, the Panthers were able to get the ball back with 1 minute left, but their deep passes fell to no avail, giving the Lancers the ball, and the victory. Oxford were able to meet adversity, and respond with a win, to the pride and delight of our head coach and players.

FT - Oxford Lancers 13 - 12 - Oxford Brookes Panthers.

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