Junior Pirates take comfortable win over Highland

June 28th, 2017

East Kilbride Pirates 30 – Highland Wildcats 12

The first home game of the season saw the Junior Pirates extend their lead at the top of the Division with a comfortable win against nearest rivals Highland.

It was the Pirates who drew first blood early in the opening quarter. Quarterback Lewis Smith drove his side 71 yards down field to the Highland 4-yard line before Jack Hunter carried the ball for the go ahead TD. East Kilbride’s next possession also ended with a score, Smith connecting with Stephen Murdoch from 25 yards on this occasion. Neither TD was converted, leaving the Pirates 12-0 ahead at the end of the first quarter.

The second period started well for the home side when Smith threw his second TD of the game on the third play after the turn around. Fraser McDonald was the beneficiary although he still had plenty of work to do as he ran the ball home for a 71-yard score.

Midway through the quarter, the Wildcats finally got on the scoreboard. Stand in QB Haris Ryalls completed a 6-yard pass to Mark Pyper to narrow the deficit to 18-6. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Pirates immediately restored their advantage when Jack Cochrane returned the ensuing kick off fully 72 yards to the endzone. Highland notched their second TD just before the interval when Ryalls ran the ball in from the 1-yard line, leaving EKP 24-12 ahead at the break.

With the game having kicked off late and another game following on after this one, it was agreed to play with a running clock in the second half. This meant there were very few scoring opportunities. Smith did however pass to Cochrane from 25 yards with the last play of the third quarter to finish the scoring at 30-12.

Next up for East Kilbride is a visit from Leeds Academy Assassins who travel to Hamilton Rugby Club on 9 July.

Game report by Bill Campbell

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