Jousters Outlast The Sea Lions In Rainy Saturday Night Action
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Jousters Outlast The Sea Lions In Rainy Saturday Night Action

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Week 3 of The Spring League concluded tonight on FS1, with the 1-1 Jousters taking on the 1-1 Sea Lions, to wrap up Saturday’s double header. This was bound to be an enjoyable game between two teams with potential, and it lived up to those expectations.

The Jousters have been playing solid football all season. The team is coming off a 28-7 blowout of the Blues, a game where both Perez and Anderson played excellent football – and their defense was relentless.

On the other hand, the Sea Lions have shown some grit, as they beat the mighty Generals last week to get their first win of the season. As week three comes to a close, this game may very well decide which team gets a shot at making a Championship run.

1st Quarter

The game started with the Jousters receiving the opening kickoff, and Luis Perez once again came out first. Despite moving the football well to start, they stalled out midfield, and were forced to punt on the opening possession.

Unfortunately for the Sea Lions, things didn’t go so well to start. A tipped ball at the line of scrimmage was picked off by Derrick Jones, and he returned it to the endzone, putting the Jousters up 6-0 early.

However, that all changed on their second drive. DeAndre Johnson made a couple impressive plays with his legs, and then found Kevonte Turpin on an out route, who took it the rest of the way, giving the Sea Lions a 7-6 lead.

The wet conditions made things quite difficult for both sides, as the rain was coming down incredibly hard.

William Likely set up the Jousters with a short field after a solid punt return, which led to Luis Perez finding Darren Woods for a 13 yard score to give the Jousters a 12-7 lead.

2nd Quarter

The Sea Lions marched down efficiently to open up the second quarter, but on 4th and 1, the Jousters defense came up clutch, creating a turnover on downs.

Luis Perez looked relatively out of sorts, which was mainly due to the conditions. He simply could not get a grip of the football, and that led to plenty of errant throws in the first half.

Nick Fitzgerald came into the game for the Sea Lions, but was unable to get anything going, and they had to punt again.

A short punt set up the Jousters in good field position, and Luis Perez found Jonathan Johnson for a score to give them a 19-7 lead going into halftime.

3rd Quarter

The Sea Lions kicked off the third quarter with a solid drive down the field, but once again could not convert on 4th down deep in Jouster territory.

As usual, Drew Anderson came in for the Jousters in the second half, but struggled on his opening possession, as the Jousters were forced to punt quickly.

What was interesting in the third quarter is that the Sea Lions had two drives that lasted over six minutes, but could not come away with any points.

4th Quarter

Unfortunately for the Sea Lions, that did not change in the 4th. After getting inside the 10 yard line, the rainy conditions caused Johnson to fumble the snap, and Bunmi Rotimi (former XFL Guardian) landed on it.

The Jousters then got down the field, taking up quite a bit of time, and kicked a 33 yard field goal to go up 22-7. Drew Anderson continues to impress with his legs, keeping the drive alive multiple times.

As the quarter wound down, the Sea Lions marched down the field, but it took too much time off the clock. They turned it over on downs with under a minute left to play, and that was the game.

Kevin Gilbride’s Jousters are looking like one of the best teams in the league, as they won 22-7 in impressive fashion.

Are The Sea Lions’ Championship Hopes Over?

To be honest, the Sea Lions outplayed the Jousters offensively today. Yes, that sounds like a crazy statement considering the Sea Lions put up only seven points.

However, DeAndre Johnson played an excellent game. His ability to run the football and evade tackles is something special – and the Jousters did give up 307 yards of offense. The problem was that the Sea Lions simply could not score in the red zone, going 0-4 in that territory on the night.

Obviously, you cannot win football games when you play like that. Despite their 1-2 record, the Sea Lions do still have potential to make the championship game, as long as they win out. Only time will tell if they can pull that off.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Jousters once again played solid football on both sides, and came away with a big 22-7 win, improving to 2-1 on the season. They are now in a tight race with the Generals, who are also 2-1.

If Luis Perez and Drew Anderson continue to play well, the Jousters absolutely can go all the way. Jay Haye’s defense has been incredible, giving up only 7 points over the last two games. Yes, they got some breaks today, but that is an amazing stat line nonetheless.

What did you think of week 3 of The Spring League 2021 season? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments down below or join the conversation on Discord.