Durham (LOSSA) Recap: Titans Survive ‘trap game’, Tyler Paul continues to dominate

It wasn’t pretty but the Titans are 3-0 after surviving the trap game vs Ajax, winning 25-7. Holy Trinity won in a fairly convincing manner, but a slow start would keep the Rams (1-2) in the game a little longer than the Titans would have liked. Some great Ajax play calling and some bad Holy Trinity execution are mainly to blame for the sluggish start. The Titans would wake up late in the first quarter as their offence moved the ball from inside their own five yard line into Ajax territory with a huge pass completion from Chris Waldinsperger to Evan Woodcock. Later in the drive Waldinsperger would finish the drive with a roll out pass to Tyler Kashak for a touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff Titans kicker Dan Lay would show off his leg strength as he scored a rouge for Holy Trinity, making the score 8-0 as the game headed into the second quarter. The second quarter would not differ much from the first, as it became apparent that both defences came prepared to play. The only points would come from Titans running back Alex Olay on a run that would end in the end zone for a touchdown with 9:52 left in the second quarter. The last nine minutes would become a punting match without any points scored. Holy Trinity would go into halftime leading by an unimpressive score of 15-0. However, credit the Titans defence on pitching a shutout in the first half, and the Ajax defence for holding the Holy Trinity offence to a underwhelming 15 points.

Early in the third an ill advised pass from the Titans signal caller Chris Waldinsperger would lead to an energizing interception for the Rams. A strong defensive effort would bail out the quarterback as they forced Ajax to punt and got the ball back for their offence. Waldinsperger would answer the interception with long back to back completions to receiver Nathan Jones, moving the Titans into field goal position. Dan Lay would notch his 6th point of the game by sailing the field goal through the uprights for three. The last 5 minutes of the third would go as you guessed, a punting match that would yield no points. The Titans would go into the fourth quarter leading 18-0.

The defences would remain dominant in the fourth, so dominant it would get on the board for the Titans. Tyler Paul came up with yet another turnover and his second touchdown as he returned the interception to the house with nine minutes left in the game.  Through three games Tyler Paul has notched four turnovers and two touchdowns making one thing clear, opposing offences need to know where #54 is on the field at all times. Later in the fourth Ajax would finally get on the board against a mainly second string defence. A long pass would land the Rams in the end zone and put the score at 25-7 Titans. The Titans would kneel out the last minute of the clock and improve to 3-0.

The Titans defence played up to their  potential in shutting down Ajax and even scoring once. The Ajax defence played a tremendous game, as the Titans had to rely on big plays to m0ve the ball and could not do so consistently so credit Ajax with a great game on defence. The Rams play defending LOSSA champs Donald A. Wilson next week.

As for the Titans they improve to 3-0 but should be humbled by the fight Ajax gave, as the 25-7 score doesn’t accurately reflect a game that was still in doubt late in the third.  The Titans will head into a battle of the unbeaten in week four when they square off against a 3-0 St Mary’s squad that is a legit contender in LOSSA.