By Aaron Wilson
For the Houston SaberCats, one of their battles throughout the season has been dealing with slow starts and having to rally.
The SaberCats, in a clutch performance, parlayed a fast start into a key victory over the Utah Warriors on Saturday night to reclaim first-place status in the Western Conference division.
This marked one of their top performances of the season as they manufactured a 40-19 win at Houston SaberCats Stadium.
Led by two tries apiece from Juan-Dee Oliver and Seth Smith, the SaberCats built a 27-0 halftime lead and held on in the second half.
They improved to 9-4 overall with 47 points, one game ahead of the Warriors’ 8-5 record and 43 points.
“We’ve been wanting that,” Smith said. “What we talk about a lot through practice is starting fast because, as you can tell, whenever we start fast, we put up a lot of points pretty quick. For us, it’s just coming in with a lot of energy. The next thing that we work on is bringing energy, having a very good week of practice. We come in hot, and it’s working for us.”
Davy Coetzer scored nine points.
Tautalatasi Tasi added a try in the second half.
Jay Renton led the team with 35 passes.
And Pono Davis contributed a team-high 15 tackles, one more than Johan Momsen.
Oliver’s open-field speed was on full display.
“I’m pretty pleased, I’m just grateful that we can put on a performance like this,” Oliver said. “This was the game we put out for the season. This was our defining match. That just makes it so much sweeter for us.”
Smith powered ahead out of a scrum for a pair of tries, showing the tackle-breaking ability from his high school fullback days at Fulshear.
“It kind of reminded me and took me back to the old football days,” Smith said. “It’s a forwards’ try. I ended up getting it on the stats. At the end of the day, it was a forwards’ try. If it wasn’t for my boys, I wouldn’t have been able to get it.”
“Seth had a good game. We need him out there with us” added Oliver.
The SaberCats return to action next weekend on the road against the Seattle Seawolves.
“We can still climb,” Smith said. “We talk about Mount Everest every single week and we keep climbing. It feels great to be on top.”
Drake Davis, a former college football wide receiver, keeps improving every week.
“We didn’t give them anything,” Davis said. “We got a lot of tries off of this defense. This is a perfect time.”
