Hyderabad has had its first taste of American Football, and from what was on display at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in the City over the weekend, there is plenty of room here for the unfamilar sport to make its presence felt.
Though the local team, Hyderabad Skykings, tasted defeat in the exhibition game against the Bangalore Warhawks, the crowd went home happy, their hunger for entertainment sated by the glitzy spectacle that was laid in front of them on the field. Every tackle received raucous cheers and everytime a Bangalore player held the advantage, he was greeted by jeers.
Warhawks won 18-6, courtesy two touch-downs (six points each), three tries (one point each) and one field goal (three points). Hyderabad scored their six points via a lone touchdown. This game was organised to promote the upcoming Elite Football League of India, based on the American-style 10-yard football, or as it is known informally — Gridiron football. Whatever apprehensions the organisers might have felt about the reception the Elite Football League of India would get in the City of Pearls went out of the window seconds after the Skykings came marching in, just before the start of the proceedings.
Rapturous applause greeted the local team, who won the toss and chose to receive the opening kick. The rules were simple. Over the course of four 15-minute quarters, both teams take turns to do their best to push into the opposition territory. For this, they would get four chances, called downs, to either cross a length of 10 yards on the field or make incursions into the opposition’s defence.
If, by the end of the fourth down, the team hadn’t crossed the 10-yard mark, the other team gets four downs before the ball changes hands again.
A touchdown means the a team has taken the ball past the opposition’s goal-line. Once a team scores a touchdown, they are awarded a try, where they would try to kick the ball through the goal-post. Similarly, the defence can try stop any advances by using brute force under the watchful eyes of the referee.
Right from the starting whistle, both the sides were locked in a fierce struggle, but the local team’s confidence was dented by a field goal scored in the first quarter. But the Skykings pulled one back by scoring a touchdown soon after. But then they messed up a try, the first of many chances that Skykings failed to make full use of.
Meanwhile, Bangalore kept improving in the other half. They took advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. They broke free of the defence twice for touchdowns and then deposited the ball right through the two prongs of the goal-post, much to the chagrin of the home fans.