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After starting the season in red hot form, the Warriors were brought back to earth by the SaberCats on Saturday. The final score read 37-17 to the visitors. Houston’s physicality at the gainline and relentless defensive pressure limited Utah’s wider attacking options that had been so effective to date.
The first quarter was dominated by the Cats. After hauling in the opening kickoff they put the Warriors on the back foot. Utah finally cleared but Rufus McLean sparked a counter attack, with a pop pass off the deck from Louritz van der Schyff sending Drew Wild over for the opening score. Davy Coetzer knocked over the conversion and added a three-pointer soon after to make it 10 unanswered points.
Utah finally got hold of the ball after the hydration break and an attacking lineout yielded their first try. Tonga Kofe curled around the maul and the giant prop bowled his way over the line for five points. The conversion attempt from D’Angelo Leuila was pushed past the face of the uprights.
Wild took the momentum back to Houston with a snap drop goal from 40 meters, and then grabbed a second try on the end of a speculate backhanded spin pass from Jay Renton. A long Warriors breakout was snuffed out by a try-saving cover tackle from Coetzer that sent Joe Mano into touch just a couple meters out from the line to leave it 20-5 in favor of Houston at the intermission.
The lead was stretched to 27-5 when Coetzer hit Johan Momsen with a flat pass in the midfield. Nathen Den Hoedt followed up and took the scoring pass from his second row mate in for a long-range try. Coetzer nailed on the extra two and the Warriors were looking down and out.
Logan Crowley and Joel Hodgson were summoned from the bench, and the change at halfback seemed to life the Warriors. Their prospects improved when van der Schyff was shown a red card for a late and high challenge on Jordan Trainor. Hodgson took advantage of the extra space in the backline and fired a miss-out pass to Nic Benn standing on the edge for a try in the right corner.
Tautalatasi Tasi’s try just a couple minutes later doused Utah’s new-found fire. The midfielder picked up a loose ball and cut back between two defenders to score the coup de grâce. Hodgson would get a try for himself when he looped around Spencer Jones, but Coetzer calmed things once again with a late penalty goal and the Warriors ran out of time before they could conjure a bonus point.
It’s a well-earned week off for the SaberCats, who return to action on March 22 with a road game against Anthem. Utah will look for a return to form when they travel to Miami to face the Sharks next Saturday.
| SCORING |
UTAH 17
Tries (3) – T. Kofe (27′), N. Benn (52′), J. Hodgson (69′)
Cons (1) – D. Leuila 0/1, J. Hodgson 1/2 (70′)
HOUSTON 37
Tries (4) – D. Wild 2 (7′, 34′), N. Den Hoedt (48′), T. Tasi (55′)
Cons (4) – D. Coetzer 4/4 (8′, 35′, 49′, 56′)
Pens (2) – D. Coetzer 2/2 (14′, 74′)
DG (1) – D. Wild 1/1 (30′)
RC (1) – L. van der Schyff (51′)
| LINEUPS |
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Aki Seiuli (17 Emerson Prior 56′), 2 Liam Coltman (16 Tuvere Vugakoto 56′), 3 Tonga Kofe (18 Angus MacLellan 47′), 4 Matt Jensen (19 Reid Davis 56′), 5 Gavin Thornbury (capt.), 6 Frank Lochore, 7 Kalisi Moli (20 Bailey Wilson 64′), 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Zion Going (21 Logan Crowley 49′), 10 D’Angelo Leuila (23 Joel Hodgson 49′), 11 Joe Mano, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Kyle Brown (22 Paul Lasike 62′), 14 Nic Benn, 15 Jordan Trainor
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo (17 Ezekiel Lindenmuth 47′), 2 Seth Smith, 3 Pono Davis (18 Michael Scott 60′), 4 Johan Momsen, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.) (19 Justin Basson 60′), 6 Emmanuel Albert, 7 Marno Redelinghuys (20 Ronan Murphy 60′), 8 Sam Tuifua (16 LaRome White 72′), 9 Jay Renton (21 Juan-Dee Oliver 64′), 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Max Schumacher, 12 Louritz van der Schyff (22 AJ Alatimu 71′), 13 Tautalatasi Tasi (23 Dom Akina 56′), 14 Rufus McLean, 15 Drew Wild
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 8
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 14:00 local
Weather: sunny, 42°F (5°C), wind NE 6-9mph (10-14km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Kage Green (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
