Last Saturday 23 Devils made their way up to Tulsa for the first and only travel game of the Fall season, outside of Nationals.

The squad included 3 experienced players in Joel, Chris and Jacoby taking the field for the first time in Devils colors, and Cliff and Ryan playing their first ever games. We had a mix of experience but so did Oklahoma with 10 first year players added to their veteran list with some solid recruiting throughout the year with some new athletes and big bodies in the team.

From the opening ball up we knew what we had to do, and we had plenty of opportunities early with a majority of the possession, but couldn’t get the ball deep enough forward to score. Speersy wound back the clock, taking contested marks all across the half forward line and Jimmy got in amongst it against his adopted second team. The backline, led by Brett E, was under a lot of pressure with Buffs quick rebounding and we allowed Oklahoma to add 3 goals for the term. Quarter time the score was OK 3.0.18 v NTX 0.1.1.

A quick talk about mentality at quarter time and a focus on our own game style had the Devils come out of the blocks in the second quarter. We again had a majority of the possession and saw Jacolby hit the scoreboard followed soon by Larry slotting a goal on the tightest of angles and Speersy with the first goal os his Devils career. The momentum swung our way and we saw how quickly the score line can change in a game, the Devils suddenly found ourselves in front going in to half time keeping the Buffs scoreless. Half time OK 3.0.18 v NTX 3.2.20

The third quarter was when the heat started to really take it’s toll on both teams, with the rotations off the interchange occurring rapidly and some players starting to cramp up. We lost Brett to a calf injury and had to shuffle the team around to fill the defensive gap with Smithy moved back alongside Austin, and ensure we could repel their attack through the run of D Mase, Surf and Dan, who played a sensational game and quickly becoming one of the Devils best game after game. The quarter was low scoring, we had out chances with several attempts smothered by the OK defense and some hurried kicks going out on the full. Jacolby came off with a thumb injury leaving the heavy lifting to Tyson, John and Flash in the middle. Smithy turned it up with some great use of the body and shone throughout the 3rd quarter. The next, much needed, break we were down again but it was still close OK 4.2.26 v NTX 3.4.22

The heat really turned up in the quarter, both literally and figuratively, and we again came out the blocks fast adding the first goal to be 2 points up in the opening minutes. Unfortunately, that was the last of the Devils goals for the game, as we started to play the OK style of physical football where their bigger physiques stifled our carry and run play and slowed the game down, exhausting our already exhausted players through brute force. Flashlite was his speedy little self, with a great opportunity to kick a goal after a mark forward but put himself under pressure playing on and some players tried to add to the score line but were having shots from just outside their range and missing the big sticks. John came off for a rest after battling hard against a phenomal athlete OK have picked up this season, his opponent kicking 2 in his absence.

In the end, the Devils simply had too many turnovers from out kicks and handballs, a common issue we need to address, and kept bombing the ball down the middle not utilising out run on the wings. This allowed OK to rebound time and time again adding a few more goals in the last 10 minutes or so of the game. We finished 11 scoring shots to 12, so were right in it however OK remain undefeated by the Devils in Tulsa although each time we head up, the score gets a little closer… next time Buffs.

Final score
OK 7.5.47 v NTX 4.7.31

Devils best
John, Smithy, Speersy, Dan, Brett, D Mase