Dubai Barracudas 30 Al Ain Desert Foxes 0
It was top versus bottom in the Emirates American Football League’s (EAFL) early kick off at Shaikh Zayed Sports City on Friday, as the unbeaten Dubai Barracudas pitted their wits against the winless Al Ain Desert Foxes.
But it was the Foxes who were quickest out of the blocks, recovering a Zavier Cobb fumble on the opening play of the game to put them in position to grab their first points of the season. But the visitors’ defence came to the rescue and their offence marched impressively downfield, as a 73-yard drive was rounded off by Jacob Dhaher’s close-range touchdown run.
Despite falling behind, Al Ain stayed competitive, but mid-way through the second quarter Dubai increased their lead to 16-0.
Quarterback Cobb drove his team 75 yards in seven plays, with the ground game doing the majority of the damage, despite missing running backs Luke Norrey and Lamar Ellison. The drive ended with fullback Quenton Collins rumbling into the end zone from one yard.
In the second half, Cobb hit Suliman Gaouda for a 60 yard pass play to set up a rare touchdown reception for offensive guard Jordan Rodriguez – who would normally block for his quarterback – and a 24-0 advantage.
This prompted Dubai head coach Kyle Jordan to rest some of his starters, giving valuable playing time to others.
With back-up quarterback Milos Dimitrijevic at the helm, the Barracudas’ took their points tally during the past two games to 70-0, late in the fourth quarter.
Dimitrijevic’s 60-yard scramble set up some razzle-dazzle, courtesy of a three-yard touchdown pass to none other than regular starting quarterback Cobb, in as a wide receiver. That concluded the scoring, with Dubai cruising to their third win in four games, 30-0.
Jordan said: “For the past two weeks we have been preparing for the unorthodox – the unexpected.
“[Foxes head coach Johnny] Sharp has been creative all season so you’re never sure what you’re going to get from his team.
“Now we prepare for the next game – that’s been our mentality all season and we’re not thinking about anything more than that right now.”
Sharp added: “We’ll keep going until the end of the season. At times our discipline frustrated me a bit but we battled for the 60 minutes.
“We try to take advantage of field position and inexperience in certain situations to catch teams off guard.
“But when you look at Dubai, they’ve had the same system and quarterback in place for the past three years – which brings with it consistency.”
