Bright blue skies for the Causeway Giants' win over Antrim Jets in Antrim

The Armoy natives took the short trip to the Antrim Forum to face the Antrim Jets, and were welcomed by blue skies for the first time in 2024. The contest saw the highest scoring game of the season.

The opening play saw the Antrim Jets shock everyone with a rushing touchdown, their first score of the season, to take the lead at 0-6. The Giants responded with old faithful Tony ‘The Tiger’ McCloskey scoring a 25 yard rushing touchdown to draw the Giants level. A short time later rookie Ben Smith hauled in a five yard reception from QB Nate Wilson bringing the score to 12-6.

Captain Mick McCafferty showed that the best offence is a good defence. With the Jets standing on their own six yard line they tried to catch the Giants off guard with a short pass to their running back, only for Mick McCafferty to snatch it from the air and score the Giants’ first pick 6 of the season. Mick brought the score to 18-6 and running back Chris Montgomery punched home a two point play to make it 20-6.

The offence weren’t finished yet as Dean Kerry rushed for 55 yards to score and Nathan Chapman caught a Nate Wilson pass for a two point play. 28-6 Giants. The Jets caught the Giants with another good run, but Jig McCoy, punched in two touchdowns in quick succession. The Giants celebrated the end of the half watching Jig shed tackles while standing still.

The Jets opened the scoring for the second half and Nate Wilson had decided the running backs needed a rest; he responded to the score with a 45 yard passing reception to Nathan Chapman who dodged his way through the Jets’ secondary for the end zone. The duo linked up again for a two point conversion to make the score 50-18. Nate Wilson, keen to start a sibling rivalry, followed this up with his third passing touchdown of the day as he threw a 40 yard TD pass to Ronan McCloskey, bringing the score to 56-24.

The Giants’ Dean Kerry decided he had one last contribution for the scoreboard. The sidelines watched as Kerry snatched an interception from a Jets pass and just kept running until collapsing into the end zone for a 65 yard pick 6. Chris Montgomery hammered in a two point conversion to set a Giants’ scoring record of 64 points.

The Giants’ defence forced two fumbles (Josh Balmer, Peter Phillips), four interceptions (Mick McCafferty, Josh Balmer, Dessie Mackie, Dean Kerry), seven tackles for loss (Peter Phillips, Gareth Walsh x 3, Liam McNally x 2, Mick McCafferty), and two defensive TD’s (Mick McCafferty, Dean Kerry). The Giants’ offensive line went another game without allowing a sack on QB Nate Wilson, showing complete dominance in the trenches and an eagerness to keep Nate’s white jersey white.

Ending on a score of 64-24 the Giants scored the most points in a game this season for any team in Division 1. The Causeway Giants’ next game is back in Armoy against the West Dublin Rhinos on Sunday, May 12.

The Giants thanked sponsors and Media Partners Aspire Media N.I. CIC for their support.