THE Iowa-based Drake University Bulldogs (USA) thrashed the combined CONADEIP All Stars (Mexico) 17-7, in the Arusha-held, first ever American Football to be played in Africa.
The blue-clad Drakes were just too good for CANADEIP in the two-and-a-half hour event.
“In this game there was neither winner nor loser, they all won, it was the ‘get together’ of three nations which counts,” said Ambassador Luis Javier Campuzano the permanent Representative to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-HABITAT at the Embassy of Mexico in Kenya.
The cultural-valued sporting event which was played at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium, in Arusha City, on Saturday, kicked off with three National Anthems representing the three countries, the United States, Mexico and the host Tanzania. Drake’s Billy Janssen scored the first three points for his team by scoring a field goal through the uprights.
CONADEIP were to retaliate with an offensive
7 point with winning touchdown scores through Jose Reyes who hit a catch with 6 points and Erick Gomez, who won one through a kick.
The touchdown is scored the instant the ball crosses the plane of the goal line, that is, any part of the ball is in the space on, above, or across the goal line, while in possession of a player whose team is trying to score in that end zone.
But the Bulldogs were not through with the Mexican ‘All-stars’ the blue-clad Drakes made a defensive seven point scores with an intercepting touchdown through players, Joey Orlando on a six-point ‘catch,’ and Billy Jansenn through a kick-off score.
Patrick Cashmore, another bulldog made scene later with scoring another six-point touchdown by running, while Billy Jansen added another touchdown point to his name with a kick.
Traffic crawled at a snail-pace along both the Col-Middleton road and Makongoro Street at whose intersection the stadium is located.
The entrance fees of 10,000/- for VIP and 3000 ordinary seating managed to keep many people outside the venue but school students with uniforms managed to get in free.
Much of the 20,000 seating space inside the stadium remained empty but still a modest number of spectators managed to enter, watch and cheer onto the teams.
Source: Marc Nkwame
