By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE Pakenham Silverbacks’ fairy-tale debut Gridiron Victoria season continued on Sunday with a brilliant 18-0 win over the Ballarat Falcons at Sydney Pargeter Reserve’s Rawling Field in Endeavour Hills.
Young star Felix Brown took a punt return the length of the field to start proceedings with a sensational touchdown before a successful conversion stretched the margin to 7-0 Pakenham’s way.
The Silverbacks faithful turned out in droves, braving the freezing conditions, but they were treated to a defensive clinic from Pakenham big man Richmond Stowers, who laid a series of devastating hits. Quarterback Steve Mclean, meanwhile, showed great composure once again – hitting his targets when it mattered most. The Silverbacks led 7-0 at the half but a field goal from in-form kicker Toby Currie soon extended the margin to 10-0 Pakenham’s way.
Aaron Weightman then smashed through for a running touchdown and Jimmy Kane caught a cunning Mclean pass for a two-point conversion to cap off a stellar all-around performance in the wet and extremely muddy conditions.
The Silverbacks have again outdone themselves with their rate of improvement speeding up another notch on Sunday.
Brown, still just 18, described his stunning opening touchdown as simply “an amazing adrenaline rush”.
“I just tried to get through as many guys as possible… you can’t be scared at all of getting hit.” Brown said.
Stowers explained just what it was like for a team littered with rookies – one many expected to go through the season winless – to have already clinched its third victory of the season.
“A team like this, which started at the grassroots… it’s just the best feeling,” he said.
But he refused to believe the Falcons were intimidated by his play.
“Of me? No way!” he laughed.
“I’ve got to watch video before our next game – there’re some things I’ve seen in my own game that I’m not happy with.
“My lift-off off the line is too slow and I need to work on getting through the triple team more effectively.”
Amazingly, the Silverbacks are still in with a shot of making the playoffs. Their next game marks a return to the scene of a famous victory – Maryvale Reserve in Morwell on 2 August against the Gippsland Gladiators.
