The Wolverines opened their 2003 campaign with a hard fought
victory. Danger man Sam Fogg opened the scoring in the first quarter when he latched
onto a pass from Quarterback Mead and left a trail of defenders in his wake as
he slashed his way into the end zone from 80 yards. Some sterling Wolverine
defense, led by Jonathan Kohler kept the Hawks at bay and forced two fumbles to
blunt the home side’s efforts.
The Lancashire outfit increased their lead in the second
period when Mead hooked up with Mark Shepherd who snared a 27-yard pass for a
score. Once again the extra two-point conversion was unsuccessful. The Hawks
stormed back when Jenkins hit Le-Shaun Adams for a 26yard touchdown grab to
reduce the arrears to 12 – 6. As the half drew to a close it was that man Fogg
again, who took a hand off, jinked his way through tackles and out sped the
Hawks defense from fully 70 yards to the end zone. Mike Keane held onto the
two-point pass to give the Wolverines a comfortable 20 – 6 lead.
The Hawks conceded again in the third period when they
fumbled near their own goal line, the ball dropping back into the end zone
where Phil Gough flopped on it to pad Lancashire’s lead. Harrogate gave
themselves a bit of a lifeline in the fourth when Jackson grabbed an errant
pass and sped 82 yards to leave the score 26 – 12. Despite attempts to claw their way back into the game the Hawks
could not breach the formidable Wolverine defense again.