It was the battle of Clayton on Saturday when the Warriors travelled up the road to meet their new neighbour the South Eastern Predators for a clash of bragging rights in Clayton in the Gridiron Victoria Under 19 competition.

With both teams fresh from a league wide Easter bye week this was going to be a battle to the end and that is exactly how it started with both teams in hot form. The Warriors led by QB Nicholas Whitehead were able to march down the field with each possession and score but all the good work would be undone when the Predators took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Warriors scoring on the first offensive play in two of their first half series.

The inability to finish tackles or wrap up their opponents kept the Predators level with the Warriors in the opening half. The Warriors are used to fast starts but they have relied on their defense to keep the lead and stop opponents from putting up big scores against them however Saturday told a different story and with a slim 32-26 lead at the half it was evident a change needed to be made.

Head Coach Callum Marini and his brother and fellow assistant Kieren Marini asked more from their defense at the half. Not much more could have been asked from the offense as they scored on each possession they had in the first half but the defense were sloppy, lazy and full of mistakes. A switch needed to be flicked and indeed it was in the second half.

Game MVP Jomo Kigotho was moved from Defensive End to Outside Linebacker, Defensive Lineman Joshua Deakin was moved opposite Kigotho to Outside Linebacker also and Dmitri Maksoutov exploded in the second half landing the days crunch award after being challenged by his coaches at the half to beat out his brother Anton Maksoutov who ran all over the Predators at Running Back and folded a Predator ballcarrier in half on a kick return.

Game MVP Jomo Kigotho shows his strength in action last week against Croydon (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

The Defense were back to their usual game plan and attached the Predators at will. Standout performers Kigotho, Deakin and Dmitri Maksoutov were also joined by Nosetackle Nick Hughes in stuffing the run game and physically overpowering a Predators team who knew the game was getting away from them. A second half shutout was produced and the Warriors ended the game winners with a 54-26 scoreline.

Offensive weapon Benjamin McGaw was a standout yet again with two touchdowns on the day, one being from a kick return whilst the other was a Wide Receiver reverse. Tight End Vish Sivakumar was able to reel in a 20 yard pass from Whitehead and Deakin was also able to punch in a score of his own with a run from fullback, but the outstanding performance by Running Back Anton Maksoutov was the difference maker for the day as Anton was able to run all over the Predators for 4 touchdowns and over 100 yards rushing.

Running Back Anton Maksoutov finds open space (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

The Warriors face the Western Crusaders on Sunday 10th April with kick off at 1:30PM at Henry Turner Reserve, Maribyrnong Blvd Footscray. The Crusaders and Warriors have a history of close games with multiple draws and the rest decided by less than a score. The Warriors are undefeated after 7 weeks and will need to improve on today to keep that streak going.

Week 5 saw the Warriors travel back to Endeavour Hills to face a Berwick Miners outfit riddled with injuries.

The last time these teams met was in Week 1 where the Warriors came out comfortable winners 50-0. Since that outing, the Miners had improved significantly and were prepared to come into today’s game a lot more competitive than what they had been previously. The only thing working against them is injuries which unfortunately has taken a big toll of late.

Game day Captain was Nathan Markopolous who has been working hard at trainings and improved each week which has not gone unnoticed!

The Warriors are well known this season for fast starts and were expected to come out firing however the Offense could not get moving earlier committing too many mistakes and too many penalties. The game would see the first quarter end at 0-0 before the Warriors could starting putting points on the board.

Unlike the Offense, the Defense were outstanding being led by Defensive Lineman Josh Deakin.

Deakin showed excellent power and position as he stuffed the run all day, forced pressure continuously and had 5 sacks on the day.

DL Joshua Deakin roars after one of his 5 sacks against the Miners (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

Whilst the Defense continued to dominate all day, the Warriors finally started to move the chains and take the game away from the Miners.

QB Nick Whitehead was again dominant in a display where he threw for over 100 yards again and threw for 3 touchdowns. He was sensational controlling the game, controlling the ball and more importantly not turning the ball over. Confidence was crucial and whilst Whitehead took the game on, so did his offensive linemen. Not only did the Warriors score 3 passing touchdowns, they also scored two on the ground thanks to great running performances by Anton Maksoutov and Bryan Huynh who both had plenty of yards each with their touchdowns.

Crunch award for today went to Anton Maksoutov for a massive hit on a kick returner who had just busted out on a big Kick Return .Anton not only plays the role of running back, but also as the kicker which made the play extra special. Another day of special teams highlights also included a Kick Return touchdown to open the second half for Majny ‘Magic’ Majing which was his first return for a score this season.

The Warriors ended up winners 44-6 over the miners and whilst the Offense ended up putting a respectable score on the board, Coach Marini still sees lots of improvement to come from his Offensive players. Coach Marini did however praise his Defense who were led brilliantly by Deakin as well as Max Abrahams, Dmitri Maksoutov and Jono Keusgen. Marini was also praising the play of Jed Melican who was able to put himself in position to make plays coming away with two interceptions in this encounter.

Next week sees a league wide bye for Easter and then the boys travel around the corner to face the South Eastern Predators who currently call Clayton home. The Clash of Clayton is upon us!

Kick off is at 2PM on Saturday 2nd April at Namatjira Reserve, Newport Road South Clayton

Get behind the Warriors!

Week 4 saw the undefeated Warriors take on the fifth placed Croydon Rangers down in Officer, the second game of a triple header.

Sitting clear on top and looking to continually improve, Head Coach Callum Marini and his assistants knew that they couldn’t take the game lightly. In front of a decent crowd and down a few players due to the Labour Day long weekend all players needed to step up and continue to fire from the start.

Anton Maksoutov was the game day captain and he did not disappoint his coaches’ decision, showing an impressive running display all day. The running back had plenty of room all day behind DL Joshua Deaking who played a dual role at full back also. The power formation was a successful decision for the Warriors as Maksoutov rushed for over 100 yards on the day behind an strong offensive line and scoring two touchdowns.

RB Anton Maksoutov finds open field in front of QB Nick Whitehead (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

A successful running game looked to have caused the Rangers to change their game plans which opened the field for an air attack. Whilst the Warriors could have continued to pound the ball on ground their coaches turned to their trusted QB Nick Whitehead to utilise a run heavy defense and find open receivers and move the chains. Whitehead has been outstanding recently being able to protect the ball, maintain possession and hit his receivers. After several seasons growing into the Warriors starting quarterback, Whitehead has looked very comfortable behind a strong offensive line allowing him plenty of time to stand in the pocket and deliver to his playmaking receivers.

QB Nick Whitehead has plenty of time thanks to his Offensive Line (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

Whitehead was able throw over 150 yards on the day and throw two touchdowns to game MVP Benjamin McGaw who has been a scoring machine all year. The young receiver was able to score four touchdowns on the day; two in the air, one on the ground and another on a punt return where he has dominated all year.

WR/PR Benjamin McGaw burns past the Rangers (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

The Warriors entered the half time break with a comfortable 24-6 lead and full of confidence behind strong showings from both their offense & defense. Starting strong has been something the Warriors have been great at entering the start of the game however it has been a different story when entering the second half.

The Rangers employed a wildcat offense and while the defense kept them off the park in the first half, the Rangers were able to scramble for some big yards behind their QB and it looked to be something the Warriors could not adjust to. The Rangers continued to score off Wildcat runs which accounted for all of their points on the day. Defensively the Warriors made the occasional play however it was the Rangers Offense that won the battle against the Warriors Defense in the end.

The Rangers Defense however could do nothing to stop the run of the Warriors who ended the game 46-26 winners.

The crunch award winner was Majny “Magic” Majing had made plenty of outstanding blocks for his running back at the receiver position, one in particular block against a linebacker got his team fired up.

Coach Marini applauded his Offense and all players within it for the outstanding performance all day. Whilst the defense was unusually quiet today, Marini will be looking for them to bounce back when they take on the Berwick Miners in Endeavour Hills on Sunday who are currently missing a lot of players due to injuries.

The Warriors enter week 3 with confidence after knocking off the back-to-back champion Lions but on the other side of the field they faced a Pakenham Silverback outfit fresh from a 52-20 victory over the South Eastern Predators. The early morning trip to Geelong can usually work against the travelling team however in this case the Silverbacks were travelling almost the same distance in what was going to be a great battle.

The Warriors started like they have recently, very hot! They return the opening Kick off 90 yards to set up a nice Lachie Woolford touchdown thanks to a nicely thrown pass from QB Nick Whitehead, and just like that the Warriors lead 6-0.

QB Nick Whitehead leading his Offense (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

Not only did the Warriors Offense & Special Teams come out firing, the Warriors Defense came out just as hot shutting down the Silverback with a very quick 3-and-Out with Jono Keusgen sacking the opposing quarterback in two of those downs. On the Silverback punt it was Benjamin McGaw back to his usual tricks setting the Warriors up with great field position with an excellent punt return which saw the Warriors able to quickly punch in another score and extend the lead to 14-0 still early in the first quarter.

The Warriors Defense came out hunting once again and after trying to punish the Silverbacks Offense were left exposed when a receiver broker free for a quick catch and run for a 90 yard touchdown. Just like that the Warriors are only 14-6 up after dominating early and needing to respond to the Silverbacks after their quick response and they did exactly that running in another touchdown to finish the first quarter with a 20-6 lead.

The game settles down in the second quarter and the Silverbacks start to gain some momentum thanks to the play of their athletic QB. He is able to scramble around and find holes both on the ground and in the air to open receivers. They eventually score on a pass to bring the score line back to 20-14 and after forcing the Warriors Offense to turn the ball over take the lead prior to the half time break 22-20.

The Warriors were without their Head Coach Callum Marini who was not able to make the game however the team were in great hands thanks to his assistants Matt Sires, Andy Sher & Matt Morgan. The Warriors were able to regroup at the break, make some changes and just like they did in the first quarter, came out firing.

The Warriors Defense were led by Dmitri Maksoutov and Jono Keusgen all day and they stepped up in the second half to keep the Silverbacks out of the Endzone. The Warriors Offense were led by QB Nick Whitehead all day who moved the chains all day whilst also protecting the ball, Nick would earn overall game MVP for his performance. The Warriors were eventual winners 34-22.

Warriors Defense swarm the Silverbacks (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

The Warriors were seen to have some standout performances from Vish Sivakumar who made some clutch catches throughout the game, Benjamin McGaw and Jackson Crook brought their Senior experience to the game making big plays the whole game while Henry Malouf enjoyed a standout game protecting Whitehead whilst also creating holes running over defensive linemen.

A special mention also to Jed Melican who was able to provide great coverage all day whilst also grabbing a interception return for a touchdown which was brought back due to a questionable block in the back call. Running Back Brian Huynh also requires a special mention with his ball security and the reliable running all day.

Overall a fantastic effort by all players and coaches in getting this hard fought victory.

Week 4 will see the Warriors head to Pakenham on Sunday 13th March to take on the Croydon Rangers who are coming off a thumping thanks to the Melbourne Uni Lions. Kick off is 3:00PM – Get there and get behind the Warriors!

Warriors players united prior to facing the Silverbacks (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

Week 2 saw the Warriors face off against the reigning back-to-back champion Melbourne Uni Lions in Melton. The Warriors came into the game with confidence from a huge 50-0 thumping of the Miners in Week 1 however they knew they would have their hands full in this match up.

The last time the Lions faced defeat was in Week 5 of the 2014 season in which they finished the season 5-3 and won their first Vic Bowl. They followed that up with an undefeated 7-0 2015 season securing their second consecutive Vic Bowl.

The match started off with both teams going back and forth with possession without any points. The Warriors Defense allowed the Lions some big yards on the ground but were able to keep them from entering the endzone. Ultimately the Lions were seen to be shooting themselves in the foot, dropping at least 8 catchable passes.

On the other hand the Warriors Offense also were seen to be making mistakes with missed blocking assignments, fumbled snaps and miscommunication. With the first half being a 0-0 stalemate, both teams knew they needed to be better if they wanted to win this battle.

Head Coach Callum Marini and his assistant coaches worked at the break to fix the mistakes and it looked to pay off. The Warriors looked to the ground to pound at the Lions Defense and gained some momentum to start the second half before some more errors halted their movement.

A gutsy call from their own 10 yard line saw the Warriors break the deadlock and it was Ben McGaw who once again broke tackles in open field to score a 90 yard running touchdown on a reverse. McGaw had scored two punt return touchdowns one week earlier as well as a receiving touchdown and looks to be gaining confidence in open field. The two point conversion was unsuccessful. Warriors lead 6-0 at the end of the third.

The Lions also looked to make some changes moving one of their offensive linemen back to fullback to counter the run game and take advantage of some poor tackling from the Warriors. They too were able to score on the ground and levelled scores 6-6 after their two point conversion also failed.

With a little over 3 minutes remaining in the final quarter the Warriors entered the redzone after some quality runs by Anton Maksoutov and great passes spread amongst the young Warrior Receivers. The Warriors again broke the deadlock with a counter into the endzone and a 12-6 lead against a Lions team looking to keep running behind their big fullback, this time with limited lime left on the clock.

The Lions moved the chains however found themselves in 4th down territory against a determined Warriors Defense led by Dmitri Maksoutov. The Warriors were able to force the turnover on downs and the offense came on the field in victory formation. Some undiscipled play by the Lions saw an ejection whilst the Warriors kneeled out the game however the game could not be taken from the Warriors who came out victors 12-6 against the best team of the past 2 seasons.

Dmitri Maksoutov deservedly won himself game MVP for his outstanding play on defense racking up almost 20 tackles.

The Warriors now sit on top of the ladder and face a young Packenham Silverbacks team who are fresh from a 52-20 victory over the South Eastern Predators.