DALLAS DEFEATS THE ROUGE IN HOME OPENER
Magpie Press – April 3rd 2006
 

The Dallas Magpies Australian Football Club continued it's 2005 form on the weekend with a very convincing 101-point victory over the Baton Rouge Tigers.  Such perfect conditions for football in Dallas are rarely enjoyed more, and there was never any doubt that the Magpies were looking to retain a winning record against the Tigers.  Dallas now moves to 4-0 again the Cajun visitors.  There will be another 2006 clash on Baton Rouge's home turf later in the year.

 

The final score: 14.21(105) to 0.4(4)

 

The Dallas line up was strong down the center and very well supported with new recruits.  Veteran players Jon Samuelson and Grant Campbell were helped out in the middle of the ground by several new players looking to assert their presence.  Dallas made some early forward advances and kicked truly with a about a 5 goal breeze to be up by 6 goals to 0 in the first quarter. Many of the goals coming from a running center line and strong half forward line including Benjie Bliss, Glen Paton, Steve Moore, Seth Haesecke and Aaron Gunn.

 

The second quarter saw the Tigers settle a little and match up on some of Dallas' key players.  Midfielder and long time footballer for the away team, Pat White was gaining some handy possessions around the ground and moving the ball forward but it was the Dallas defense who stood strong and allowed no majors through the big sticks.  Led by second year player and full back, Pat Sutton the defense continuously rebounded Baton attacks.  Pat was well supported by Justin Chance, Robbie Rothlein, Brenn Miller, Dustin Brasell and newcomer Jared Ray.  While it was a tough battle around the ground in the second term it was Dallas who managed to covert on the big scoreboard, although not as accurately as the coach would have liked.

 

The third quarter brought a change of weather and rain made the conditions slippery for most of the 20 minutes.  It was still Dallas who managed to move the ball more effectively than the Tigers but still blazed away at goals and missed a few opportunities.  To the credit of the Baton side the white flag was never raised and their rough and tough nature continued through the entire game.

 

The last quarter saw the magpies try out some positional changes and introduce some new players into the game.  At this point the Magpies number one goal was to keep the Tigers goalless and to the backline’s credit this was maintained and the Tigers managed only 4 points for the day's football.  In front of a small but vocal opening day crowd the Dallas side proved to be too tall, fast, fit and strong for Baton Rouge and ran out eventual winners.

 

Dallas now has a four-week preparation schedule before the first of the MAAFL clashes at home against Milwaukee.

 

Best on Ground (Dallas): Campbell, Ray, Haesecke

Goals (Dallas): Schneck (5.6), Cambell (4.6), Ray (1.0), Cobb (1.1), Haesecke (1.3)

 

Individual Player Statistics:

 

Number

Name

Kicks

Handballs

Marks

Goals

Behinds

1

Taylor Howard

4

4

1

 

 

2

Jay Upston

4

4

1

 

 

3

Jared Ray

22

6

9

1

 

4

Chris Cordry

5

1

1

 

 

5

Grant Campbell

31

15

12

4

6

6

Seth Haesecke

21

11

7

1

3

7

Stuart Rackham

15

11

11

 

3

8

Daniel Russo

11

2

8

 

 

9

Drew Schneck

14

4

6

5

6

10

Jason Ellis

10

7

5

 

1

11

Benjie Bliss

3

3

 

 

1

12

Justin Chance

4

2

1

 

 

13

Dustin Brazel

12

5

7

 

 

15

Pat Sutton

10

1

3

 

 

17

Brenn Miller

4

1

1

 

 

18

Glen Paton

4

1

2

 

 

20

Rob Rothlein

3

3

1

 

 

21

Scott Hunt

5

2

1

 

 

24

Jon Samuleson

7

4

4

 

 

25

Aaron Gunn

7

2

4

 

 

32

Chris Emerson

9

2

2

 

 

36

Stephen Moore

9

5

2

 

 

42

Scott Cobb

6

1

 

 

1

69

Jason Duke

2

2

 

 

 

 

 

About the Dallas Magpies:

The Dallas Magpies are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, dedicated to fostering national and international amateur sports competition as well as promoting a cultural exchange between Americans and Australians. The Magpies participate in the Mid American Australian Football League, a division of the United States Australian Football League, and also have a player, Brandon Blankenship, competing on the U.S. National team internationally. The team is active in promoting the Australian national sport and Australian culture through clinics at area schools and by sponsoring events such as the annual Australia Day and ANZAC Day celebrations in the Metroplex.

 

For more details on organizing a school clinic, playing footy with the team or supporting the Dallas Magpies Australian Football Club, e-mail the recruiting department (recruiting@dallasfooty.com).