The views and opinions expressed in this article in no way reflect those held by American Football Ireland. The below article is intended to be entertaining and promote around American Football Ireland games.
And with that, the AFI Senior Kitted regular season is (almost) over. 75 of the 76 regular season fixtures across all 3 divisions in Ireland have come and gone, and while we wait on the #4 Giants @ #3 Razorbacks in Division 2 this coming Saturday, all playoff fixtures and relegation scenarios were confirmed last weekend. Let’s dive into how each game affected clubs across the island!
Record: ¹ = Secured Playoff Appearance
² = Secured Home-Field Advantage
³ = Eliminated from Playoffs
SATURDAY
#2 Antrim Jets (5-3)¹ 16 – 32 #1 Louth Mavericks (7-1)¹
Dundalk RFC hosted a preview of sorts to the Division 2 Bowl game (Newforge Sports Complex, July 31st, 12:30pm), with the division’s #1 and #2 seeds battling it out for what position both would end up in the division standings. The Mavericks came out on top at home, scoring 4 TDs on offense and a 5th through a pick 6, all touchdowns coming from QB Nathan Hearty in some capacity. The signal-caller scored the pick 6 on defense (after already picking up an INT earlier in the game), ran the ball in twice on the ground, and added 2 passing TDs through WR/TE Dec Mulvihill and RB Brendan Simms. Veteran Maverick Alex Simms picked up 2 sacks, while Mulvihill and Anthony Vize paired up for the team’s 3rd sack. Momentum may very well be on Louth’s side for the final after an apparent dip in form two weeks ago.
The Jets lose a bit of momentum going into the final with the loss here, but do have three weeks to make adjustments to their gameplan for the Division 2 Bowl (Newforge Sports Complex, 12:30pm). QB Scot McLean has been the Jets MVP for the season and has put up some great games, and while he’s struggled against the Mavs this season, McLean is the type of quarterback to break off a superstar performance on any given Sunday. Couple him with RB Declan Curran, who has been punching in TDs for fun in the latter half of this season, and a defense that scorches past offensive lines (5 defenders with 4+ sacks), and the Jets could find third time’s the charm on July 31st.
SUNDAY
#4 South Dublin Panthers (4-4)¹ 13 – 42 #1 Dublin Rebels (8-0)²
The Rebels achieved the undefeated regular season landmark with an emphatic win at home against a Panthers team that came out fighting for playoff football. Ty Henry continued his incredible form, throwing for 4 TDs while adding 2 on the ground himself. On the receiving end of Henry’s scoring passes were standout WR Dave King (who leads the the country, as a rookie, with 9 receiving TDs), while Dan Johnson caught his first 2 TDs of his 2022 campaign. Defensively the Rebels swarmed the Panthers offensive line and created pressure all game, creating 8 sacks — the likes of Gustavo Souza (3) and Kenny McCarty (2) getting to Ian Cahill more than once. Capitalising off that pressure was DB Cathal Keane, who came away with an INT Sunday, ending his regular season with 5 on the year. An impressive display from the undefeated Rebels, who face the same Panthers side in 2 weeks time in the semi-final.
South Dublin will take loss on the chin, as the result in the Trojans/Admirals game means they will occupy the #4 seed for the playoffs. Ironically ending their season with the inverse scoreline of how they started the year, a 42-13 loss to the team they will be playing in two weeks time (July 24th) likely wasn’t the morale booster the Panthers were looking for. Still, the Panthers have often had the ability to surprise favoured opponents, especially around this time of year (see: 2019 semi-final vs Admirals) so they are not a side to be ruled out purely on last Sunday’s result.
#5 Belfast Trojans (4-4)³ 20 – 26 #3 Cork Admirals (5-2-1)¹
The closest game of the weekend with the most playoff implications going into it, Cork emerged from the dust on home-field to secure their playoff position for 2022. Another 4 TD performance from QB Stephen Hayes put enough points on board for the Admirals defense to make enough stops to a rolling Trojans offense. 3 of those 4 TDs were caught by Jack Cronin, who had a career day in a must-win game, with brother Richie catching the other. Ayo Mumuni had a good day on the other side of the ball, tallying a sack and a forced fumble for the Admirals. Limiting an offense that had scored 40ppg in their last 4 games to just half that is a big credit to an Admirals offense looking to squeeze scoring opportunities down to a minimum for #2 UCD (6-1-1, 36.125ppg).
Big T put up an incredible fight to try complete what would have been one of the best season turnarounds in since the turn of the millennium, starting off 0-3 and still finding a way to keep themselves in playoff contention until the final whistle Sunday. The offense did what they could with a ferocious Admirals defense in front of them, with QB James McKelvey punching a TD in himself while throwing one to WR Tom Morris. Star RB Jona Siri made sure to fight his way into the endzone for a TD of his own. Defensively the Trojans had their work cut out for them, and while DE Lopez Sanuzi put in an almighty effort to get his sack and the defensive backfield had multiple pass breakups, it just wasn’t to be for Belfast, who just miss out on playoff football and their chance to defend their National Championship. An awful lot of credit must go to the Trojans for coming so close after a horrid start to the season.
#8 Dublin Rhinos (1-7)³ 0 -34 #7 Belfast Knights (1-7)³
A game that saw the winner earn Premier Division survival for 2023 and the loser be relegated to Division 1 next season, the Rhinos took the trip to Belfast which, unfortunately for the Castleknock side, ended in Rhinos relegation. An unfortunate result to a season against teams that had greatly improved from their 2019 seasons, the Rhinos became the odd team out despite the talent on their team — a pass rush consisting of Samson Olusegun, Nico Marrimposey and Gary O’Rourke put in some great performances which saw each player reach the 4 sack mark on the season, something few pass rush trios around Ireland can claim. Maintaining these players, along with a push in recruitment and finding a true identity on offense, should make the Rhinos one of the top promotion candidates from the 2023 Division 1 campaign.
The Knights, meanwhile, left it until the end of the season to get their much needed win, as they finally got offense and defense clicking together. Josh Davis was under center for the first half and ran in 2 TDs to get the Knights up early. Marty Caskey added 2 field goals on the day and, when he came into the game, QB Spencer McDowell finished off the game and sealed survival for the Knights with a pass TD to WR Jordan Clinton and a rush TD of his own. The defense, made obvious by the 0 on the board, was all over the Rhinos, allowing very little in the way of scoring opportunities or drives near their endzone, while coming up with 3 sacks — Robbie Alexander was involved in all 3, including a 0.5 credit with Graeme Best. After enduring a forgettable season, the Knights came together at the right time to earn a win they won’t forget about for a while.
#4 Donegal / Derry Vipers (3-4-1)¹ 8 – 24 #3 Cill Dara Crusaders (4-4)¹
Crusaders fans were treated to a win in their final home game of the year last Sunday, putting away the Vipers 24-8 in a game that sees them leapfrog the Donegal/Derry side into the #3 seed. QB Jordan Farrell cemented himself at the top of the passing TD leaderboard for Division 1 leaderboard with his 7th, 8th and 9th of the year (Robert Brown x2, Ben Costello), and inspired a hard-fought performance from his Crusaders offense. That all-in mentality bled over to the defense, who were relentless in stopping the Vipers rushing game and never gave QB Paul O’Donnell time to breathe — finishing the day with an interception from Erin Kelly, and nine sacks. A huge momentum boost to carry with them to Limerick to face #2 Vikings this coming weekend in the Division 1 semi-finals.
The Vipers, meanwhile, found it tough down numbers to break through the Crusaders defense, with O’Donnell sneaking a TD in towards the end of the game. DB Chad Higgins came away with an interception on Farrell, while LB Darren Quinn was unlucky to not have either of his forced fumbles result in a turnover in favour of the red and yellow. The Vipers have impressed as a whole in their 2022 campaign, though, and with everything to play for in their semi-final @ #1 Minotaurs this Sunday they will be sure to give every bit of fight they have in them.