ABU DHABI // Some of what is most entertaining about American football – evenly matched teams, a scrambling quarterback with a strong arm, a last-minute, game-winning touchdown and a dust-up at the end as tempers flared – was on display on Friday night, right here in Abu Dhabi.
The Emirates American Football League (EAFL) kicked off the second half of its second season at Zayed Sports City with a tight game that the Dubai Barracudas pulled out late over the Abu Dhabi Wildcats 28-14.
The Dubai club led only 7-6 at half time, but the pace picked up in the third quarter and built toward a fiery conclusion.
With the game tied 14-14 and about a minute remaining, Barracudas quarterback Zavier Cobb connected with receiver Michael Anderson on a clean, spiralling throw at the goal line for a 12-yard touchdown pass that effectively won the ball game.
On Abu Dhabi’s ensuing possession, Cory Peisel, the Wildcats quarterback, was intercepted by Ian Carron, who returned it 15 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the game.
After the extra point, players from the teams began shoving at midfield, and officials declared an end to the game with about 20 seconds of playing time on the clock.
“It’s a violent game. It’s easy to get frustrated and lose your cool,” said Kyle Jordan, the Barracudas coach. “They’ve got great players, a great coaching staff, great attitude.
“Sometimes guys lose their cool. It happens. It’s football. I’m sure we’ll shake hands at some point and everything will be fine.”
The victory put the Dubai club level with Abu Dhabi in the standings, with 2-2 records.
The game was a nice advert for the EAFL product. In addition to an expanding digital footprint in its second season, a recent sponsorship deal with GMC and a growing youth base, Cobb – who played a season in America’s professional Arena Football League – displayed the increasing quality of the play itself.
“The competition level has definitely stepped up and it’s making these games a lot more fun,” Jordan said. “The more that we play the more people are finding about it and joining into the league and that’s gonna do nothing but bring the play up.”
The Wildcats were damaged by the early loss of Vivaldo Tulysse, their No 1 quarterback and the league’s reigning MVP. He was injured in the first quarter and did not return to the game.
Cobb threw for two touchdowns, earlier finding Daniel Veranyi from the 1-yard line for Dubai’s first score.
“We got some running in early on, which helped open up the passes,” Cobb said of his night. “I was off target a bit, talked to my teammates at halftime, talked to my coaches and settled down. Clicked in the second half. Great win for us
“It’s a lot of talent here, a lot of first-time players and to execute, to play the way they play, I take my hat off to them. We’ve got a lot of athletes out here. I was amazed, coming over here finding American football and seeing the quality of players we have out here on the field.”
Abu Dhabi, the defending league champions, took the early lead with the game’s first touchdown in the opening quarter. Peisel connected with Harold Lindsey – who later left the game with an injury – for an 11-yard pass.
Andrew Williams, an 18-year-old running back who is the league’s first player to graduate from the varsity system to a men’s senior side, ran in a four-yard touchdown early in the third quarter and then rushed for a successful two-point conversion to make it 14-7 Wildcats.
Jakob Dhaher’s one-yard score for the Barracudas late in the third tied it.
The league, with three youth levels in addition to the senior EAFL level, has seen its ranks rise to 350 players, 54 coaches and 16 teams since its conception about a year and a half ago. It is ambitiously forging ahead in building its profile.
The GMC sponsorship, which officially began on January 1, marked another milestone for the league, with its first major corporate partner. They have also built a steady web presence and have been working out a live streaming system to showcase games.
Dustin Cherniawski, the EAFL general manager, would like to see the Desert Bowl championship game find a place on television, as well.
Jordan, the Dubai head coach, pointed to a talent like Cobb as an example of how the young league could continue to progress.
“You can tell he’s a guy, as soon as he showed up and ran around, you’re like, ‘Okay I know what I’ve got here.’ One play and I knew what I had. Those guys don’t come along too often,” he said. “But the longer we keep playing the more guys will keep coming out of the woodwork.
“As long as we can get a little bit of noise out there, within all the noise that’s in Dubai that distracts people, we can start to get guys out and see the level of play come up higher and higher.
“Also operationally speaking these game days are just great. These guys, the EAFL with a lot of volunteers have done a great job organising these events. Our guys show up, all they really have to worry about is playing football. In a lot of amateur leagues you’ll see guys lining the fields, selling concessions, so it’s definitely coming along. I’m excited to be a part of this.”
What was to have been the first of two games at Zayed Sports City, the Dubai Stallions versus the Al Ain Desert Foxes, was postponed because the latter club could not field enough players.
jraymond@thenational.ae
