In sweltering Cheshire conditions, the Border City Centurions Flag American Football team rewrote the record books for American football in Cumbria and South West Scotland.
With a hat-trick of wins on the day, the Carlisle-based team are now guaranteed a positive finishing position for their rookie season, no matter what happens in the four remaining league matches of the year.
All focus is now fully locked onto possibly even clinching a play-off berth.
In baking oven conditions at Birchwood, Warrington, the Centurions responded from the previous gameday’s 1-2 outcome, to secure a 3-0 winning scenario on the road.
Despite the humidity of a pressure cooker, they racked-up a blistering total of 101points, whilst conceding just 26.
Match one was a nailbiter against a youthful and talent-packed Lancashire Bombers side, including their star quarterback (recently offered a place at the NFL Academy).
Trailing 19-20 in the final phases of the game it took a remarkable two-point safety from overall Team MVP for the day, Luke Millar to punch into the lead. With the ball back in hand too, the Centurions moved on to close the game out in the final two minutes and record a 27-20 win.
Match two saw the Cumbrian side carve out a strong 21-0 lead going into the half, the score line boosted by a stunning interception from Luke Hopper, taking it all the way back up the field for a touchdown and Defensive MVP Barry Watters notching up his 13th of 20 tackles for the day.
The final score was Sting Rays 6, Centurions 34.
Match three against Chorley was soon in the bag thanks to a couple of brilliant touchdowns each between wide-outs Niall Clifford and Jed Richardson, plus a fourth touchdown for the day from Dom Lewis.
Despite going down with suspected bruised ribs a talisman like performance and ‘nail-in-the-coffin’ touchdown capped off the win from Offensive MVP and captain Alex Thompson.
Final score: Centurions 40, Chorley 0.
It’s now on to Game Day 3 in Teesside on the 22 of July to face sides from Edinburgh and Steel River.
This Saturday the junior team (The Border City Junior Cents) will be traveling to Lancashire for a head-to-head tournament with the best under-14 players in the North of England.
Earlier, on Wednesday evening the newly formed Border City Centurions Women’s team will be having their second training session at the team home venue, Richard Rose Central Academy in Carlisle.
Founded in 2022, the Border City Centurions are a Flag American Football Team, and with already over 90 club members and players recruited from across Cumbria and South Scotland the team is growing rapidly.
The Centurions are already affiliated to the British American Football Association and play in the UK’s National Flag Football League’s Division 1.
Despite their recent formation, the Border City Centurions are already sitting in 2nd place of the NFFL Division 1 North England Conference and 4th overall Division 1 between North England and Scotland.
Flag Football is a rapidly growing, high-skill based format of non-contact American Football. Embraced by both the NFL and now the International Olympic Committee who have cleared it for immediate inclusion for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The growth of the game is chiefly a result of the world seeking alternative pathways for the future of contact sports, due to increasing awareness of the links between the impacts of repetitive concussions and the long-term head traumas in traditional sport formats.
Consequently, today it is one of the fastest growing sports in Europe and the Americas.
