Titans (U17) 38-7 win over Helsinki Roosters!

    After losing their opener to the Helsinki Wolverines the previous week, the TAFT Titans (U-17) played host to the Big Red Machine, Helsinki Roosters.  Young but talented, the Roosters won their season opener against the Helsinki 69ers, 18-16.
    In addition to losing to the very physical, talented, and well-coached Wolverines, the Titans also lost their starting QB, Joona Collier, to a broken elbow.  Luckily, TAFT has one of the finest U-15 QBs, Jesper Korkalainen, who answered the call and stepped up to lead the Titans.
    The Titans took the opening kickoff and drove down the field but would be stopped on downs inside the 20. The Roosters would take over but on their fourth play, Daniel Pyykkö would intercept the ball and return it to the Roosters 25.  A few plays later, Korkalainen would scramble and find Tino Könö for a 19 yard TD. Jere Salejärvi would add the extra point and the Titans were up 8-0.
     The Titans would hold the Roosters on the next drive and take the ball over on downs. A mixture of running and passing would take the Titans down the field where once again Korkalainen would find Könö in the back of the end zone with a beautiful touch pass. An interception and long return by Eemeli Tuovinen would give the Titans the ball inside the red zone. A few plays later the Korkalainen-to-Könö connection would work once again and the Titans would go into halftime up 22-0 after the successful Salejärvi kick.
     As the third quarter began, so did the storm. A hard rainfall would continue for most of the rest of the game. This didn't prevent the talented QB of the Roosters, Arno Murtoniemi, and his talented receivers from moving down the field with their passing game and score a TD to get back into the game 22-7.
     The Titans would begin to concentrate on their power running game. Big backs Tuomas Heikkinen and Salejärvi, along with the speedy Könö would begin to work the middle again and again behind the excellent blocking of Tony Hopia, Leevi Määttä, Jasper Lindqvist, Onni Tirkkonen, Joel Rössi, and Elmo Sandberg. Korkalainen would take it in himself from the 1 and after a good kick, the Titans were up 30-7 going into the fourth quarter. After one of their many sacks, Otso Bull would recover a fumble and a few plays later, Salejärvi would power in from the 12, kick the extra point and extend the lead to 38-7, where it would stay.
     The Titans would like to say thank you to the Roosters for an excellent game and wish them the best for the remainder of their season. The two teams will meet again in August.
     The Titans' coaches are very pleased at how well the game went as they had to quickly create a gameplan for their new QB. High praise are in order for Korkalainen, who executed that gameplan masterfully in his first ever game at this level.
     The Titans have a few weeks off and will visit the always strong Porvoo Butchers on 16.6 at 18:30. We hope to see you there. Go Titans!

Text: Mark Collier

Photos: Laura Helminen