The 1-0 Knights hosted the 0-1 Wolverines in Week 3 of the BUCS season, looking to follow an impressive win against Stirling and maintain their position at the top of the table. The game marked history as the 300th career game for Head Coach Pete Laird, who is in his sixteenth season at the helm of Napier.
Heriot-Watt came into the game after a 0-30 beating from the Glasgow Tigers. Their new coaching staff is trying to find their feet with a fresh squad of inexperienced players, so this week was a daunting test for the young side.
Archie Inglis opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 75 yard touchdown run down the left sideline, but the point-after was no good. This was closely followed by a 16-yard pass from Cameron Dunn to Aaron Steel for the Knights’ second score of the first quarter. Dunn added the two-point conversion to make it 22-0.
The second quarter continued primarily on the ground, as muddy conditions made it difficult to get a sure footing. Archie Inglis punched in his second touchdown from one yard out, with Steel adding the point-after kick.
Heriot-Watt continued to struggle on offence, as their rookie offensive line buckled under the Knights pass rush. They ended up in their own endzone, as Napier linebacker Fergus McNiven recorded a safety to give the Knights another two points.
The second quarter closed with another Dunn passing touchdown, this time to the versatile Charlie Rattray. Steel knocked the extra-point through the posts to end the half 38-0.
The second half began with the mercy-clock in effect, and Napier got to work quickly with a one-yard touchdown run by Dunn. The Knights got the two-point conversion on a run from Inglis to make the score 46-0.
Rookie quarterback Lachlan McFie saw out the rest of the fourth quarter for Napier, earning his first snaps for the varsity squad. McFie added the exclamation point to the Knights victory with a nine-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Ryan Courtney. Aaron Steel finished the scoring for the day with the extra-point to make a final score of 53-0.
The Knights can enjoy a bye week as they look ahead to their next opponent, the University of Edinburgh. The Mavericks look dangerous after handing Glasgow their first loss of the year, 22-0.
