Teesside Cougars 0 – 47 Newcastle Raiders

by Stuart Dick


BUAFL North Eastern Conference


The 0-2 Newcastle Raiders looked to get their first Win on the board in their first home game of the year against the debuting Teesside Cougars on Sunday Afternoon. The Cougars started the season with two bye weeks and were looking to pour misery on the Raiders.


Four rushing touchdowns from Full-Back Johnathon Kemsley, plus three more scores on the ground gave the home side the win in a 47-0 blowout. Ben Cross (2) and Amir Cincik were the other two scorers on the day.


Newcastle set the tone on the opening kick-off, with a 45 yard run back by Ben Cross into Cougar territory. Newcastle’s first drive stuttered with holding penalties being a regular occurrence. On 1st and 25 the Raiders converted with a 30 yard TD Pass. The rest of the drive consisted of Double Wing offensive power, with runs up the middle going at 8 yards per carry. The drive was finished off by Full-Back Kemsley who took it in from three yards out. The XP was no good.


After a quick three and out from Teesside, The Raiders Double Wing continued to dominate, with Amir Cicnik running in a score from 17 yards. The Second Quarter was more of the same, with Teesside struggling to muster offence, and failed to stop the run. Ben Cross was the next man in the endzone with a short TD, before a Cougar fumble led to a 55 yard two minute drill, with a long pass play before Ben Cross ran in another TD. It was 27-0 at the half.


The second half of the game was the Johnathon Kemsley show, with the full-back running in all three scores. His first was a 13 yard run after another sustained drive, The mammoth full-back went in untouched as the Cougar defence got tired.


Twice more in the fourth quarter he ran in almost untouched. The final score 47-0.