London Blitz Under-17s made their best start to a season after victory in their British American Football Association Youth League tournament.

The Finsbury Park team travelled to Watford to take on the Cheetahs, last year’s divisional winners the Kent Exiles and the London Warriors.

In the first match against Kent Exiles, the Blitz capitalised on the first play, picking the ball up from an Exiles fumble and running it into the end zone for six points.

But Kent managed to keep pace with the Blitz, preventing the London side from pulling ahead, with their defence forcing a couple of turnovers themselves to notch 12 points and their offence scoring once.

But the Blitz managed to stay in the lead, thanks to two touchdowns and one successful PAT (point after touchdown) from tournament MVP (most valuable player) Marcus Barbosa, as they edged to a 19-18 win.

The following two games against the London Warriors and Watford Cheetahs proved less of an obstacle with the Blitz winning 44-15 and 21-6 respectively.

Barbosa stood out in offence scoring 32 points and making over 150 yards in receptions, with running back Wilson Adu Ntow gaining almost 250 on 22 attempts and scoring 18 points on the day.

The Blitz defence was extremely solid with rookie linebacker Oles Morris earning an MVP award in his first tournament with an impressive display that included 4.5 tackles.

Cornerback Tiger Taylor-Hart also impressed with six bat downs and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

The next tournament for the London Blitz youth team is their home match at Finsbury Park Stadium on June 1 which kicks off at 1pm.