The Yorkshire Academy Rams made a winning return to the field after a three-week break in games, routing rivals Knottingley by 47 points.

After a great Rams kickoff return and a huge gain on the resulting play from receiver Conor Moran were called back for various penalties, the Rams settled into the game early.

In what turned into a very well organised opening drive, it was quarterback Josh Green who forced in from short yardage for the first score of the afternoon.

Not to be outdone by their offence, the Rams D brought pressure early and Fred Idiong found himself in the right place at the right time, picking off the Raiders QB and returning it to the house for a second score in quick succession.

The Rams offense soon returned to the field and found themselves facing a 1st-and-30 but Trisham Sarkar pulled off a huge 31-yard gain to put them in the redzone where hard hitting running back *Luke Campbell crossed the plane on a quick outroute from his quarterback.

Another defensive play on the year by Adam Cowley set up yet more great field position, as the Rams ageless lineman blocked a punt. From here Green threw another TD pass, this time to Arron Hurst, who adjusted well to make the catch and score.

Ryan Waters would get his first career interception to hand the ball back to the offence once again and on fourth down, Moran added another score to the board for the visitors.

Just before the half Green made it three passing touchdowns to add to his opening rushing score by finding Sarkar, who looked threatening through the air and on the ground all game, for a final score before halftime to make it 37-0.

The second half saw another quick turnover, this time through safety Tyler Broad but a running clock in this half saw time speed away. Knottingley did show some resilience though and were rewarded for their tireless work with two interceptions of their own.

However, a lack of discipline saw a facemask penalty in their own endzone causing a safety to be awarded to the Rams.

The next series would see Green find Campbell again for another Rams score before Elliott Rock tacked on the 2 point conversion making it 47-0 and a well-enjoyed return to football for the Rams.

Head Coach Jason Shaw said: “Firstly, it has to be said that Knottingley really came out of Sunday with an awful lot of credit in the bank as far as I am concerned. With COVID and injury dropouts, it would have been easy for them to decide this game was one step too far, take the weekend off, and prepare themselves for a game next week against opponents from their own division. Massive thanks to them for getting the game on, agreeing to take a knee with us before kick off and just generally being good, competitive and sportsmanlike opposition.

I am proud of our team for firstly taking care of business, and secondly supporting their rookie teammates, some of whom took their first meaningful snaps of the season. This game represented what I believe the purpose of this season was supposed to be - two teams getting better at football and developing their players ahead of the ‘proper’ season next year. We look forward to hosting Knottingley for the return fixture in a few weeks. We have lots to work on before we take a trip across town to the Bobcats, but we can’t wait for the next game.”

MVP Awards

• Offensive: Trisham Sarkar
• Defensive: Sam Wood
• Special Teams: Tyler Broad
• Ram of the Day: Chris Jones