On Sunday 24th April in front of a great crowd in warm conditions, the Warriors faced a young determined Raiders outfit with a spot in the Vic Bowl on the line.

The Warriors came in undefeated and faced a team they defeated only 7 days earlier whilst the Raiders entered their first ever final full of confidence in the hope they could adjust to last week’s loss and turn the tables.

The Warriors knew the tricks the Raiders had up their sleeve and the defense came out firing! The Raiders first offensive series had 2 rushes for 0 yards and an incomplete pass, and before you knew it they were punting.
Offensive Weapon Benjamin McGaw picked up the bouncing punt and returned it 30 yards to the Warriors 28 yard line and setting up the Warriors with excellent field position.

Enter QB Nicholas Whitehead who had been in excellent form of late and staring down the barrel of a 3rd and 12 decided to take on the Raiders for a 30 yard rushing TD. One series, one touchdown, Warriors lead 6-0 with 7:41 in the first.

QB Nicholas Whitehead finds scrambles for one of his three rushing touchdowns (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

The Warriors defense entered their second series just as well as they did with their first forcing the Raiders to another rush for 0 yards, and incompletion and a 7 yard loss due to a Raiders fumble. The game was firmly in control to the Warriors and with Benjamin McGaw back ready to return another punt, all the pressure was square on the Raiders early and that showed with a fumbled snap and a punt of -10 yards, the punt sideways and out of bounds thanks to some great pressure by the Warriors.

The Raiders needed to step up and their defense finally came to the rescue. The Warriors were threatening to score again deep into the redzone by the Raiders forced a turnover on downs and more importantly to them, forced a change in the momentum of the game.

The Warriors defense continued their dominance but their offense started to show signs of fatigue turning the ball over with a fumble (controversial inadvertent whistle) and then Whitehead threw an interception right at the defender. The Warriors defense were able to recover a fumble of their own with just 40 seconds remaining in the first half however nothing was able to come of it with time running out ending the first half 6-0.

The Warriors regrouped at the half recovering in the shade, getting their fluids up and with Coach Marini and his coaching staff making minor adjustments they were back ready to go for the second half.

In their previous match up, the Raiders opened the game with an onside kick, something the Warriors thought may occur again so they set up for the second half and sure enough the Raiders kicked the 10 necessary yards straight to a waiting Anton Maksoutov. With great field position to start the second half, Whitehead looked to take the Raiders on again and from the very first play of the series scrambled for a 40 yard touchdown run along the sideline in front of the Warriors crowd. Henry Malouf was able to punch in the 2 point conversion and the Warriors were able to extend their lead to 14-0 with 9:48 remaining, only 12 seconds into the second half.

The Raiders hit back immediately with an 80 yard end around with the Warriors defense over pursuing and the Raiders runner dodging tackles to find open field and the endzone to bring the score back to 14-6.

The Raiders looked to get the ball back again lining up for an onside kick, this time chipping over the top of the Warriors front line and successfully diving on the ball to get possession and switch the momentum again in the game. They stretched the field with some lateral running and looked dangerous however a fumbled handoff allowed OLB Kyle Katiferis to pounce forcing yet another turnover deep in the Warriors own territory.

Warriors Defense forces a turnover (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

The Warriors were hoping to give themselves some breathing space but the Raiders defense continued to shine forcing a change of possession and then with a catch and run over the middle, they were able to run it in for another score and come within 2 points of the Warriors with a 14-12 scoreline.

A delay in the game due to an unfortunate injury to OLB Kyle Katiferis (broken ankle) saw the Warriors come together and work together looking for that victory.

The offense were lead brilliantly by Whitehead and Maksoutov who switched from running back to tight end and ran the perfect route finding the back of the endzone for another touchdown.

Anton Maksoutov finds space in the back of the endzone for the Warriors (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

With the end of the third quarter and Katiferis off to hospital in an ambulance the Warriors looked poised and confident enough to finish the game strong. Anton Maksoutov just ran the perfect route for the previous touchdown and torched the Raiders on the ground also with a 40 yard run dodging the Raiders putting the game away extending the lead to 30-12 with 6:36 remaining on the clock.

Both defences tried to hold strong for their clubs but it was the Warriors capitalising with game MVP Whitehead scrambling for his third touchdown on the day and securing the win with 2:32 left and a lead of 36-12.

The Warriors were able to kneel the game out, extend their unbeaten streak and secure a spot in the Vic Bowl against the Melbourne Uni Lions.

The Warriors are hoping to win their third Junior Vic Bowl (first since 2009 vs Rangers) whilst the Lions are hoping to win their third successive Vic Bowl (something no other club has been successful doing at Junior level).

Kick Off will be at 3:00PM on Saturday 30th April at Heatherbrae Reserve, Arena Parade, Officer.

One More Win – Required for Vic Bowl

One More Win – Required for the perfect season

One More Win – For a lifetime of memories

Get down and support the Warriors and enjoy a cracking game!

The Warriors headed down to Reservoir on Sunday for the final game of the regular season and a chance to finish the season undefeated leading into Playoffs. A young determined Raiders team were hoping to grab bragging rights in this contest as the teams would face off against each other next week in the semi final. This would be the first time the Raiders Juniors would be participating in playoffs and they let everyone know that.

The Raiders brought some arrogance to the game because of their new feat and that was apparent with an onside kick to start the game.

Not showing to be unsettled, the Warriors Offense took the ball to the ground and pounded at the Raiders. The speed option looked to work with RB Anton Maksoutov punching in the first score of the game and getting the Warriors off to a great start.

The Defense came out also to a great start forcing the Raiders to punt the ball away allowing the Offense to march the field again all the way to the redzone. The Warriors were this time unable to run in another score and the Raiders force the fourth down turnover. Possession changed without any result for both teams and looked to be a defensive battle all day.

The Warriors however were able to break that deadlock with a passing touchdown to TE Vishu Siakumar who has been a great redzone target, only on this occasion it wasn’t from his quarterback, it was from WR Jordan Van Buuren.

TE Vishu Siakumar reels in another redzone TD. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

The Raiders were then able to hit straight back with a returned touchdown to keep within a score of the Warriors 14-6.

The Raiders rallied behind their defense but the Warriors kept moving the ball eventually scoring with another rushing touchdown by RB Anton Maksoutov. With time about to expire for the first half, the Raiders pull off a touchdown run as time expires and trail the Warriors at the half with a respectable 22-12 scoreline.

The Warriors brought in RB Brian Huynh as a change of pace running back and he dominates the Raiders for not only his first series in the game but the whole second half. Brian would end up with game MVP for the Warriors with a 2 Touchdown performance and over 100 yards rushing (all in the second half).

Game MVP RB Brian Huynh runs through the Raiders Defense (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

The Raiders defense seemed to run out of legs as they couldn’t keep up with the Warriors Offense in the second half. The Warriors scored as they liked with Huyny punching in 2 and Offensive Weapon Benjamin McGaw scoring a touchdown on a reverse,

The Crunch award went to Anton Maksoutov for a massive hit on kick return, pictured below.

Anton Maksoutov lays the massive hit on a kick return (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

The Warriors head to Parkville on Sunday with Kick Off @ 1:30PM against the Northern Raiders which has turned into a grudge match after some online posts by the Raiders. The Warriors will come out firing! Get down there and support your Warriors! The job is not done, 2 more wins required!

With Pride.

The Monash Warriors headed down to Footscray on Sunday to tackle the Western Crusaders in a game that would cement the overall #1 seed for playoffs with a win and a Norther Raiders loss.

The Western Crusaders were a team struggling to find wins this season but still a determined team willing to finish the season on a high note. They had lost two of their games this season by less than a score and had those have gone the other way, they would have been in contention for the #4 seed.

The day did not start of well for the Warriors as several players found themselves running late and the team captain Pradeep Rethnam had forgotten his game pants at home. Game MVP then went to Senior John Le who had brought some pants to the game straight from training at Monash University in Clayton.

The Warriors were determined to fix their slow starts from previous games however found themselves concerned after all the issues prior to the game beginning. Coach Callum Marini tried to fire up his team prior to kick off and the Offense listened.

The Warriors Offense took to the field and dominated the Crusaders early however QB Nick Whitehead threw his first interception since Week 3 and had the Crusaders fired up defensively and then caused problems for the Warriors when the Offense took the field.

Head Coach Callum Marini and Defensive Coordinator Matt Sires in discussion (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

Determined to cause an upset the Crusaders scored on both their first two drives of the game coming out in formations that caused headaches for the Warriors. Defensively the Warriors had not seen these formations meaning they had not prepared for it and had no experience on how to counter it. It wasn’t until coaches Marini and Sires made changes to formations and assignments that they were able to control the game.

Special teams has played a pivotal role this season with the Warriors and their standout returner Benjamin McGaw was back at his best torching the Crusaders for 3 return touchdowns on the day, two coming from Kick offs and the third from a Punt. The speed and ability to make people miss has been exciting to watch but it is the teamwork of the 10 players around him on the field making key blocks which allows McGaw to find those gaps to turn into scores.

Offensive Weapon Benjamin McGaw finds open space for one of this 3 returned touchdowns (Photo courtesy of Bruce Rachon)

Running Backs Anton Maksoutov and Brian Huynh had big days combining for over 150 yards rushing and a touchdown each whilst Tight End Vish Sivakumar continued to impress with a touchdown of his own on an Out route.

Joining the scoring party were Jono Keusgen and Dmitri Maksoutov who both scored defensively on interception returned touchdowns. That sees the Warriors Defense & Special Teams combining for 5 touchdowns on the game and the Warriors ended up easily accounting for the Crusaders running out 70-14 winners.

Crunch award went to Josh Deakin who delivered a massive hit from FB on a goal line 2pt conversion.

Next week sees the season finale where the Warriors will travel to Reservoir on Sunday 17th April and face an improving Northern Raiders team that have cemented a playoff spot for the first time in their young Junior history.

The Warriors can’t afford to slip as form at this time of the year is crucial. Whilst they have cemented top spot after the Northern Raiders lost to the Melbourne Uni Lions in the lead up game in Footscray, the Warriors still need to be on top of the game if they wish to complete the perfect season.

The Warriors will face either the Packenham Silverbacks or Croydon Rangers who are both fighting for 4th position and hope to defeat them to face either the Northern Raiders or Melbourne Uni Lions who will face off again in the semi finals.

Get down to Reservoir and support the Warriors in their quest for the perfect season.

It was the battle of Clayton on Saturday when the Warriors travelled up the road to meet their new neighbour the South Eastern Predators for a clash of bragging rights in Clayton in the Gridiron Victoria Under 19 competition.

With both teams fresh from a league wide Easter bye week this was going to be a battle to the end and that is exactly how it started with both teams in hot form. The Warriors led by QB Nicholas Whitehead were able to march down the field with each possession and score but all the good work would be undone when the Predators took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Warriors scoring on the first offensive play in two of their first half series.

The inability to finish tackles or wrap up their opponents kept the Predators level with the Warriors in the opening half. The Warriors are used to fast starts but they have relied on their defense to keep the lead and stop opponents from putting up big scores against them however Saturday told a different story and with a slim 32-26 lead at the half it was evident a change needed to be made.

Head Coach Callum Marini and his brother and fellow assistant Kieren Marini asked more from their defense at the half. Not much more could have been asked from the offense as they scored on each possession they had in the first half but the defense were sloppy, lazy and full of mistakes. A switch needed to be flicked and indeed it was in the second half.

Game MVP Jomo Kigotho was moved from Defensive End to Outside Linebacker, Defensive Lineman Joshua Deakin was moved opposite Kigotho to Outside Linebacker also and Dmitri Maksoutov exploded in the second half landing the days crunch award after being challenged by his coaches at the half to beat out his brother Anton Maksoutov who ran all over the Predators at Running Back and folded a Predator ballcarrier in half on a kick return.

Game MVP Jomo Kigotho shows his strength in action last week against Croydon (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

The Defense were back to their usual game plan and attached the Predators at will. Standout performers Kigotho, Deakin and Dmitri Maksoutov were also joined by Nosetackle Nick Hughes in stuffing the run game and physically overpowering a Predators team who knew the game was getting away from them. A second half shutout was produced and the Warriors ended the game winners with a 54-26 scoreline.

Offensive weapon Benjamin McGaw was a standout yet again with two touchdowns on the day, one being from a kick return whilst the other was a Wide Receiver reverse. Tight End Vish Sivakumar was able to reel in a 20 yard pass from Whitehead and Deakin was also able to punch in a score of his own with a run from fullback, but the outstanding performance by Running Back Anton Maksoutov was the difference maker for the day as Anton was able to run all over the Predators for 4 touchdowns and over 100 yards rushing.

Running Back Anton Maksoutov finds open space (Photo courtesy of barendphotos.com)

The Warriors face the Western Crusaders on Sunday 10th April with kick off at 1:30PM at Henry Turner Reserve, Maribyrnong Blvd Footscray. The Crusaders and Warriors have a history of close games with multiple draws and the rest decided by less than a score. The Warriors are undefeated after 7 weeks and will need to improve on today to keep that streak going.