By Aaron Wilson
Teamwork. Sharp passing. Pure power in the scrum. And a lot of tight defense and sharp tackles, cutting off angles fast.
Those qualities defined the SaberCats’ impressive 33-0 shutout victory over the San Diego Legion. The five-point win boosted the SaberCats’ overall record to 7-1, marks their second consecutive victory since absorbing their lone loss of the season following a 5-0 start, and places them back in first place in the Western Conference Division with 34 overall points, one more than the Seattle Seawolves.
“The boys stepped up,” said Line Latu, who scored one try. “It was a great all-around game.”
Indeed.
Ronan Murphy led the SaberCats with two tries, followed by one try apiece for Latu and 18-year-old rookie Seth Smith.
Davy Coetzer contributed six points on three conversion kicks.
“It’s huge,” Murphy said. “We never want to say a game is a must-win, but this game felt like a must-win for us. We know they’re right on our heels. If we had given San Diego a win, they would have been tied with us.”
Murphy’s first try came off a quick pass from Marno Redelinghuys.
“The first one was great team play and interchange of hands,” Murphy said. “I saw Marno break the line and I just tried to go off his hip. He did good to get his hands free and get me the ball.
“The second one, all credit to our forwards smashing into them and they eventually cracked. I just saw the hole and took it. You can’t complain when you have seven wins. The team has been putting in a lot of work. We just try to churn away as a unit.”
The SaberCats built a 14-0 halftime lead, then kept it up in the second half.
Smith powered in for a scrum.
This marks the first career score for The Woodlands native.
“It feels amazing,” Smith said. “It felt really good to be back playing at home. We knew it was going to be an arm wrestle. They’re a tough side. It’s a crazing feeling. It just wasn’t a me try. It was a forward try. Got to give all the props to my brothers.”
The SaberCats’ tackle leaders were Keni Nasoqeqe, Coetzer, Murphy, Johan Romsen and Andre’ Warner
The SaberCats return to action next week at Utah.
“We’re definitely proud of the win,” Christian Dyer said. “We have got a lot of respect for San Diego. They’re a world-class organization. We knew they were going to challenge us in various parts of the field.
“Credit to our guys for sticking to our game and firming up on the defensive side. We really have to be disciplined. When we’re aggressive, we make turnovers happen.”
