FIRST SUTHERLAND SEAHAWK PLAYER REACHES THE NFL.

We've had some success over the years with former players heading off to play college football but for the first time a former player has reached the NFL.

Blake Muir has decided on an offer with the San Francisco 49ers and will head there for off season training before returning home to Australia in a few weeks. He will be team mates with fellow Australian and former Rugby League star Jarryd Hayne.

Blake played for the Sutherland Seahawks Colts and then Senior team in 2009, leading both teams in sacks and forced fumbles, playing defensive line, tight end and offensive line.

He joined the University of Hawai'i Warriors in January 2011 and redshirted as an offensive tackle. In 2012 he set testing records for the OL in the Clean, shuttle and vertical leap then started all 12 games at Left Tackle. A new coaching staff had taken over in Hawai'i and Blake felt that his football career would be better off elsewhere, a good decision given the 10-37 record the program had from 2012-2015.

Blake was able to find a new home at Baylor University in Texas, part of the Big 12 Conference. The school had turned around 2 decades of poor performances into a new era of success with new Head Coach Art Briles. Blake would be joined by his brother Sean at the school and the two of them were able to spend the last 3 years together going to school, training and playing.

With room mates in Texas.

Bringing back some Baylor gear for the Sutherland Seahawks Junior players.

Running out at the new home stadium.

Blake was present for two Big 12 Conference Championships, 3 Bowl Games, a win in the Russell Athletic Bowl at the end of the 2015 season and the highest ever rankings for the program. His 37 career starts in 37 eligible games set him up as a genuine prospect for the NFL in 2016.

Blake's Pro Day results were excellent, having the best performance in the broad jump at his position and several other top 10 results.

As captain for the 2015 Texas Tech game.

There are numerous people to thank.  

Coach Gordon Shaw was the only coach to offer a scholarship in the beginning as the OL coach at Hawai'i from 2009-2011 and Blake's first OL Coach.

Paul Manera at Bring It On Sports who was integral in introducing connections for Blake to explore when he decided to transfer to a new school and help his brother Sean to join him at Baylor.

Coach Randy Clements and Coach Art Briles at Baylor who really wanted Blake as a prospect and coached him his final 3 years.

Shire Speed and Strength has been the home of training and development of players at the club since 2009. Contact Coach Pete to find out how you can learn skills for general preparation training in the weight room, sprinting, agility and jump development.

It has been to the club's benefit that Blake has gone on to bigger and better things. He is a great example of what student athletics is all about, adding to his football successful with numerous conference academic awards and Dean's lists at Baylor.
 

As always you can follow Blake and Sean's diary page here, and pay attention to the club Facebook page for more information when it comes.

Peter Upham
President
Sutherland Seahawks
coachupham@shirespeedandstrength.com.au

COLTS TEAM AWARDS AND RECORDS 2015 SEASON.

There were multiple achievements from the 2015 Colts team.

Its 3rd straight championship and 8th overall for the club came with a second straight undefeated run.

Whilst 2014 saw a massive leap in the performance of the offense, in 2015 it was the defense that vastly improved.

The 2015 unit limited opponents to just 2.76 yards per play, a new season record that tops the 2006 team's 2.82 yards per play. 2014 allowed 4.09 yards per play.

Touchdowns allowed drop to just 4 for the entire season. That is down from 16 in 2014 and equals the club record of 4 from the 2003 team; arguably one of the best defenses the club has ever had.

Takeaways equaled the 2014 total of 26 but it came from 118 less plays. In 2015 a turnover came once every 11.7 plays! Just better than the 2003 record of 1 in every 12.4 plays.

Sacks were down in 2015, only 20 after last years' record 34 for the season. But more importantly, 1st downs allowed were down from 86 to just 37 in 2015.

The 2015 defensive unit also saw a record for points scored themselves, with 8 touchdowns returned and 2 safeties scored. 5 touchdowns was the previous best.

Individually the defense saw Dylan Dinale equaling the record for touchdown returns with 3, he also led the turnover count with 5 altogether; 4 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery.

Jackson Young broke the record for forced fumbles in a season, having 8 this year, the previous record being 5. Young also led the tackle count with 61 for the season which is 9th all time. He also led the defense in sacks with 8 and fumble recoveries with 4; 2 of them returned for touchdowns.

Offensively, there was a drop from the all time records set in 2014. Rushing avg was 6th highest ever with 6.43 yards per play, rushing touchdowns finished with 26 which was 4th highest all time. Haoping Tang had the 5th highest rushing yardage total with 777 yards, his 19 touchdowns good enough for 2nd all time for the Colts team in a season.

Passing touchdowns equaled the highest ever output of 26 in a season with the 2006 campaign. That put QB Daniel Besz equal with 2006 QB Trevor Chambers.

Justin Whiting's 438 yards left him at 3rd all time in receiving yards in a season, Jake Wedesweiler ended up 6th with 368. Their reception totals of 35 and 34 respectively are 3rd and 4th all time for the club in Colts football.

The offense gave up just 4 sacks on the season, the lowest since 2002 which had 3. Turnovers were down to their lowest ever level from 1 every 42.9 plays in 2014, to 1 every 47.4 which is the lowest ever for a season, a credit to all offense players, Center Bailey Cribb as much as anyone.

The Team Awards:

Team MVP: Jackson Young 61 Tackles, 8 sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries 2 returned for TD. 9 receptions 2 TD, 2 PAT's.

Offensive MVP: Haoping Tang 111 carries for 777 yards 7 yard avg, 18 rushing TD, 7 receptions 88 yards 1 TD.
Defensive MVP: Dylan Dinale 24 tackles, 4 PBU, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 4 INT, 2 returned for TD.


Rookie Offense: Jake Wedesweiler 34 receptions, 368 yards, 8 TD, 5 PAT.
Rookie Defense: Andrew Di Cesare 28 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery.

Seahawk Spirit Award: Bailey Cribb Club record low 4 sacks allowed.

EX-SEAHAWKS IN BOWL GAME TOMORROW.

9.30am Sydney time on ESPN Blake and Sean Muir will play for the Baylor Bears against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

As what happens with every College Bowl game, there is a week of events that lead up to the game. A full review of those events can be found here as well as Blake and Sean's Diary page here.

The game will also be Blake's 37th career start and final game as a college football player.

The Bears have arrived in Orlando where it's hot and humid on Christmas Eve.

A photo posted by @bufootball on Dec 24, 2015 at 1:19pm PST

REMINDER: The Russell Athletic Bowl Preview Show debuts TODAY at 5 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Southwest. #SicUNC

A photo posted by @bufootball on Dec 28, 2015 at 1:47pm PST

Below is a season review for Baylor Football 2015.

SEAHAWKS WIN 8TH COLTS CHAMPIONSHIP; THREEPEAT.

Topping off an outstanding and record setting season, the Sutherland Seahawks won 42-0 over the North West Sydney Predators.

5 rushing touchdowns to Haoping Tang led to him being named game MVP. Indicative of the kind of well thought out game planning that went into the preparation, the first offensive play from scrimmage was a 34 yard touchdown to Tang, but it was Tang's 16 yard 2nd half touchdown that broke several tackles that was the game's best.

QB Daniel Besz threw an excellent 31 yard touchdown to Justin Whiting after a long return from a safety punt; field position that the defense handed several times to the offense, as they have most of the year.


The defense capped off a season where they set a new club record for yards allowed per play 2.76ypp, topping the 2.82ypp of the 2006 Championship team. The defense kept the Predators to - 13 yards rushing in the game and added a safety from a blocked punt, as well as a fumble, an interception and 2 sacks.

The game bogged down at several points with penalties and the 42-0 scoreline didn't quite top the 48-0 victory from 2014's Championship game but the game definitely demonstrated the tremendous hard work of the players and coaches.

Since taking over the Head Coaching role for 2012, Christos Lambroplous is 31-8-2 with 3 championships. The coaching staff continue to demonstrate excellent application of modern system principles in football as well as skill and physical development.

These guys have each won 3 Championships in a row.

 



SEAHAWKS 42, PREDATORS 0

ANKLE BREAKERS WIN INAUGRAL JUNIOR COMPETITION

An incomplete pass as time expired from the Golden Phoenix secured the Ankle Breakers 32-31 win in the first ever Seahawks 5 an Junior competition.

Coach Daniel Besz directed the team to an undefeated season, a feat he would repeat a day later quarterbacking the club's Colts team.

Multiple touchdowns to Harry Clarke, who led the competition with 27 for the season, as well as Ethan McKean and Ryhs Downs kept the Ankle Breakers slightly ahead, the point after touchdowns vitally important.

Both quaterbacks played great Spencer Christlo for the Breakers and Max O'Shea for the Phoenix threw multiple touchdowns and just 1 interception a piece.

The Breakers and Phoenix played 3 very close games in 2015. 37-33, 45-35 and 32-31. The football was tremendously entertaining each time and it kept the spectators enthrawled.

In the 3rd v 4th game, a touchdown as time expired gave the Hurricanes a 44-39 victory over the White Lions. Both teams have suffered tough losses this year, underlining the competitiveness of the competition amongst so many inexperienced players.

Footage and photos will follow.

SEAHAWKS QUALIFY FOR THREEPEAT ATTEMPT

A fitting final rushing touchdown to Haoping Tang capping his 149 yards for the game was trumped by the first ever score from offensive lineman Mitchell Wiseman from the backfield as time expired, icing the game 30-8 and sending the Sutherland Seahawks to its third consecutive Colts Championship.

TE/WR Jake Wedesweiler scored 2 touchdowns from 7 receptions for the game, good enough for equal 3rd best ever from the Colts team. The offense turned the ball over uncharacteristically on its opening drive allowing the Pirates to get up 8-0 early on.

Roaring back with a solid drive on the ground, QB Daniel Besz trotted in for his 7th rushing touchdown for the season but still a 8-6 deficit.

The defense toughen. LB Jackson Young ended the game with 14 tackles, good enough for equal 2nd most in a colts game for the club.

Swarming to the ball carrier and rallying once the play broke down kept the Pirates from scoring again. Safety Alex Mellor's interception late in the game set up the final score. The takeaway was the 23rd for the Seahawk defense this season just 3 behind the record total from 2014.

The Seahawks will via for its 8th ever Colts Champinship from 9 appearances. The North West Sydney Predators were defeated 54-0 back in week 3 and will take on the Seahawks next Saturday December 19th at David Phillips Field. Kickoff is 3pm.

SEAHAWKS 30, PIRATES 8

JUNIOR SEASON ENTERS FINAL ROUND

The 7-0 Ankle Breakers won another tight contest with the Golden Phoenix 45-35.

Like the Week Three 37-33 encounter, the game was in doubt into the final minutes, Harry Clarke's 5th touchdown of the day from QB Spencer Christlo put the game beyond doubt. The Ankle Breakers of Coach Daniel Besz, have led the competition in scoring and have qualified for the #1 vs #2 final on Friday December 18th.

Who will meet them will be decided in this friday's final round.

The Green Hurricanes had their best game of the season and defeated the White Lions 30-18 off the back of some tremendous defense. The Hurricanes will need a win over the Golden Phoenix and a 43 point improvement in their for/against differential.

The White Lions need to win their last game over the Ankle Breakers and have the Golden Phoenix lose whilst improving their differential over them by 29 points.

This week's games start 6.40pm at Waratah Athletics Track on friday as normal.