Hallam continue to Pyle up Wins

Sheffield Hallam, the nation’s no.3 ranked team, winners of 15 of their 16 regular season games and victims of a food-poisoning pandemic, headed across Yorkshire to face the unranked Huddersfield Hawks.

After falling agonisingly short of the hundred points mark last week against Lancaster, the Hallam Warriors went a step further on Sunday scoring over one hundred unanswered points on the Huddersfield Hawks to record BUAFL’s highest score since adopting 12 minute quarters, 105-0.

The margin of victory was largely due to the efforts of senior running back Danny Pyle, who enjoyed a career day, finishing with 310 yards rushing and 7 scores on only 15 carries. James Musonda was just as dynamic, running 6 times for 98 yards and two scores. He also caught one pass for a 10 yard score.

SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER
	TD	Danny Pyle, 52 yard run (Lee Sanders run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 1 plays, 52 yards.
	TD	James Musonda, 10 yard pass from Jacob Muncey (Lee Sanders run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 1 play, 10 yards.
	TD	Danny Pyle, 14 yard run (Adam Capper kick is good), Drive: 2 plays, 39 yards.
	TD	James Musonda, 22 yard run (Adam Capper kick is good), Drive: 1 play, 22 yards.
	TD	Lee Sanders, 21 yard run (Lee Sanders run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 3 plays, 35 yards.
2ND QUARTER
	TD	Mike Whitston, 25 Yd interception return (Sam Adekanmbi run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 1 play, 25 yards.
	TD	Jacob Muncey, 10 Yd run (Rich Griffiths run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 9 plays, 74 yards.
	TD	Danny Pyle, 5 yard run (Adam Capper kick is good), Drive: 3 plays, 18 yards.
3RD QUARTER
	TD	Danny Pyle, 17 Yd run (James Cullis run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 3 plays, 30 yards.
	TD	Rich Griffiths, 1 Yd run (Stephen Connolly run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards.
	TD	Danny Pyle, 26 Yd run (James Musonda run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 1 play, 26 yards.
	TD	Danny Pyle, 10 Yd run (Jacob Muncey pass failed for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 5 plays, 85 yards.
4TH QUARTER
	TD	James Musonda, 18 Yd run (Jacob Muncey run for 2 Pt. Conversion), Drive: 4 plays, 70 yards.
	TD	Danny Pyle, 54 Yd run (Adam Capper kick is good), Drive: 4 plays, 78 yards.

“They’re just exciting to watch, last week we restricted him [Pyle] to 6 carries and I think he still had 185 yards,” Head Coach Batty said. “There was an awful lot said last week about getting 97 points, it doesn’t really matter to me. The guys will tell you as well it means nothing to me, the score isn’t important. It is how we play, the manner in which we play and how we’re looking to improve week on week.”

Lee Sanders, Rich Griffiths, Jacob Muncey, Pyle and Musonda all scored on the ground for Hallam (3-0), which is 3-0 for the third time in three years and will play #15 Hull (3-0) next weekend.

A win over the Sharks would assure the Warriors the top spot in the North heading into the Christmas break.

The game started well for the visitors as they wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. On their first play from scrimmage, Danny Pyle scampered 52 yards down the right sideline for the opening touchdown. Bruising rookie Lee Sanders added the 2 points conversion and Hallam took an early 8-0 lead.

Following the restart, the Hawks immediately turned over the ball following a big hit in the backfield. KB Asiedu recovered the fumble, leaving Jacob Muncey to connect with rookie Musonda for a 10 yard touchdown pass on the very next play. Again Sanders added 2 points and Hallam led 16-0 after only 42 seconds.

Huddersfield were more effective from the restart, running the ball back 20 yards before eventually being tackled Musonda, also on kicking duties. The Hawks looked to gain some momentum but were forced to punt two ferocious hits in the backfield by Marcus Holland; Hallam took over following the punt.

The Warriors again met with little resistance, after an initial gain of 25 yards, Danny Pyle made one cut and accelerated away from the defence for his second touchdown of the game. Adam Capper kicked the extra point and Hallam extended their lead to 23-0.

The Hawks were being choked by the visiting defence and were unable to move the ball on their next two drives, huge tackles from Whitston and Morrow setting the tone. Hallam made two quick scores through rookies Musonda and Sanders and Hallam finished the first quarter with a commanding lead of 38-0.

The Warriors cruised from there.

The second quarter started as poorly as the first for the Hawks, as a pass thrown over the middle was intercepted by Warriors linebacker Mike Whitson, having a career season, recorded his fourth turnover in 3 games and took it 25 yards for another 6 points. This time Sam Adekanmbi added the extra 2 points, 46-0.

Hallam’s defence dominated the Hawks, controlling the line of scrimmage, forcing turnovers or three-and-outs on every first half possession.

Players of the Game
Hallam			Hallam
D. Pyle	Rush	15	J. Musonda	Rush	6
	Yds	310		Yds	98
	Avg	20.6		Avg	16.3
	TD	7		TD	2

After the restart, the Hawks continued to throw the ball, but were unable to connect on any of the passes. After again forcing the Hawks to punt, Pyle, Musonda and Rich Griffiths quickly moved the ball 56 yards in 6 plays.

A penalty for blatant pass interference moved the visitors to the Hawks 1 yard line and with no one open in the end zone, Hallam’s own Jared Lorenzen; Quarterback Muncey, scrambled right and barrelled over 8 Hawk defenders to record his first rushing touchdown of the year. Another successful two and Hallam led 54-0.

After being dominated at the line and sacked in the backfield by Defensive-End, Ryan Callis, the Hawks faced 4th and 8, but managed to extend their drive for the first time after a well executed fake punt. The Hallam coaches tipped their hats, but their success was short lived as linebacker Anthony Marsden jumped in front of an errant throw and raced 57 yards before realising he is slow and should’ve got in the gym when Betty told him to. Pyle again scored on the run from 5 yards out, but a fumbled snap on the two point conversion kept the score at halftime to 60-0.

Following the half time break, Muncey began methodically picking apart the Huddersfield secondary and threaded a 13 yard pass through double coverage to receiver Josh Bayley, before Pyle ran in another touchdown from 17 yards out. Full-Back James Cullis barrelled over for the two point conversion to make the score 68-0.

When Muncey got the ball back, Hallam were on the move again. Bayley made a nice 33 yard grab near the sideline and Muncey hit Griffiths for 13 yards, leaving Griffiths only 1 yard to pay dirt. The added two points made the score 76-0.
Hallam refused to take their foot off the Hawks neck, Lee Sanders recovering a short kickoff into the wind and Pyle immediately scored his fifth touchdown of the day from 26, with Musonda adding the two (84-0).

Pyle scored again before the end of the quarter, sharing carries with rookie Adekanmbi, whose floating running style is reminiscent of former Hallam back, Darren Gayle. An unsuccessful conversion and the score remained 90-0, with the fourth quarter still to play the hundred seemed achievable.

The fourth quarter saw Hallam playing offence on defence and defence on offence. Andre Henry had two interceptions slip through his hands while running back Adekanmbi carried 19 yards, dragging four Hawks with him to set up Musonda’s third touchdown of the day.

Following an anther short kick and a 15 yard penalty for roughing the passer, Hallam’s hearts were in their mouths as a long field goal sailed wide right.

Hallam capped the win by surpassing the hundred before the end of the fourth quarter; Pyle broke a couple of tackles, picked up two blocks and scampered 54 yards for the score.

It was an emphatic win for the visitors who currently sit third overall in the BUAFL weekly rankings and a truly astonishing performance from running back Danny Pyle, who could exceed 1,000 yards for the season with another strong showing against the Hull Sharks on Sunday.

“I think we need to be realistic here,” Batty said. “We’ll face better opponents throughout the season. … The opposition is what it is; we can only play as well as the opposition allows us. They did really well in some aspects as well, but overall I’m pleased with the effort and energy of our players and obviously with Danny Pyle’s personal performance today.”

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