Coastal Carolina, UNCW Lead Southern Conference
One week in and already things are shaken up in the Southern Rugby Conference in men’s DII college competition.
GRR’s #4 team from last year, Furman, went down to Coastal Carolina 29-8 Saturday in something of an upset and a nice birthday present for Coastal’s coach, Tom Barnett.
The game itself was hugely physical, especially in the first half, and it seemed Furman had the run of play, getting three kickable penalties. They made just the one kick, though, and held a slim 3-0 lead just before halftime. It was then, with Furman down a man due to a yellow card, that Coastal pulled off a nicely-executed backline attack off a lineout, which put Michael Tillman through a gap for a try. That try was converted to put Coast up 7-3 at the break.
MTSU Defeats KSU - Middle-Schoolers Rescue Game Middle Tennessee State put down something of a marker in the opening game of the South Independent Rugby Conference, as they defeated longtime rivals Kennesaw State 50-8 in Georgia.
The two teams usually play very close games, but this time around MTSU took control early. Two minutes into the game, MTSU No. 8 Josh Pentecost scored and with scrumhalf Coty Baker's conversion the Blue Raiders led 7-0. On the ensuing restart, KSU kicked deep into MTSU territory and soon created a turnover. After putting together some phases, KSU got over the try line to bring the score to 7-5. But it was just about all MTSU after that, with Baker notching 30 points from four tries and gfive conversions. Stephen Wyatt, Adam Byrd, and James Daugherty added a try each. The KSU squad hung touch, but MTSU was much more cohesive.
Middle Tennessee State put down something of a marker in the opening game of the South Independent Rugby Conference, as they defeated longtime rivals Kennesaw State 50-8 in Georgia.
The two teams usually play very close games, but this time around MTSU took control early. Two minutes into the game, MTSU No. 8 Josh Pentecost scored and with scrumhalf Coty Baker's conversion the Blue Raiders led 7-0. On the ensuing restart, KSU kicked deep into MTSU territory and soon created a turnover. After putting together some phases, KSU got over the try line to bring the score to 7-5. But it was just about all MTSU after that, with Baker notching 30 points from four tries and gfive conversions. Stephen Wyatt, Adam Byrd, and James Daugherty added a try each. The KSU squad hung touch, but MTSU was much more cohesive.
BC Win Puts ECRC on Notice
One of the most notable results in the non-conference games this weekend was Boston College handing Dartmouth a 43-17 loss.
BC went into the game underdogs, but in a tightly-contested first half led 12-10. Having weathered a tough first 40 minutes, the Eagles seemed to grow in confidence. Dartmouth was hit by penalty trouble, and a yellow card, early in the second half and BC scored two quick tries. Dartmouth replied with a try to make it 22-17, but after that, the BC backs exploded.
“It was an awesome day for BC Rugby, finally taking down one of the best rugby clubs in the Northeast,” said BC Rugby co-captain Ben Nathan. “We feel like our program is constantly improving and this game was a great way to kick off our fall, with our league season beginning next weekend against Albany.”
Great Lakes Starts With Lopsided Results
The Great Lakes Men’s DII conference started with a series of lopsided results this weekend.
Oakland University slammed Ferris State 59-0 paced by Kurt Ryan’s four tries and three from DJ Pinneo.
Marshall won in a somewhat closer game 34-12 over Eastern Kentucky. Jamison Adkins scored two tries and the Thundering Herd also got tries from Troy Hoffman, Jun Morisue, and Mike Pratt.
Meanwhile, defending conference champion Grand Valley State won 73-0 over Saginaw Valley State.
GVSU Head Coach John Mullett said in a team-published preview that he has expectations of this squad.
"We got probably 20 guys coming back that at different times last year played A-side ball," Mullett said. "And we have freshmen that are going to push out some of our starters and start in their place this year. They're that good, right out of gates."
Ohio State Handles Pitt
Ohio State looked impressive Saturday with a 57-7 victory over the University of Pittsburgh.
Flanker Corey Harmon scored three tries for the Buckeyes and scrumhalf Ian Hildebrandt scored two and set up two more.
The key moment in the game came just before halftime when OSU was up only 12-0. Pitt coughed up the ball and the Buckeyes scored to make it 19-0 at half-time, and cruised from there.
Head Coach Tom Rooney lamented a slow start by his team, and also noted that the Buckeyes committed almost twice as many penalties as Pitt.
“So there’s plenty of us to work on to get better,” said Rooney. “We could see the parts we’ve taught so far, but it was now smooth. That’s OK, we need some more time.”
Rooney praised the effort of Pitt.
Rugby East Latest
Wheeling Jesuit defeated Iona (see report here) in the opening weekend of the Rugby East Conference.
Also winning were the Black Knights of the US Military Academy, the defending conference champions, and Penn State.
UMW Win Highlights Cardinals Conference Day
The University of Mary Washington worked through a muddy, wet day to defeat Radford 29-19 in the opening weekend of the Cardinals Conference season to move to 1-0.
The game was played at the Virginia Men's Rugby Club ground in Charlottesville Va. while UMW is finishing off its rugby complex. UMW Head Coach Tim Brown thanked the Virginia RFC for hosting the game, and said Radford posed a stern test - just as he expected.
“Anytime you can beat a physical team like Radford in a day marked by so many knock-ons it is an accomplishment,” said Brown. “Teams just don't get to play in the puoring rain anymore; and this was a great experience for us.”
Delaware Back Playing Rugby, Winning
In the team’s first game of rugby in two years, the University of Delaware defeated St. Joseph’s 46-34 Saturday in Newark, Del.
The Delaware rugby program was shut down in 2013 following a party tangentially associated with the rugby team that got out of hand. The ban was supposed to be for five years, but thanks to some hard work behind the scenes by players and alumni, the UD administration reduced the suspension to two years.
“This was one of the greatest games I have been involved with,” said club president Chris Mattina, who was instrumental in getting Blue Hen Rugby back on the field. “I think the players will never forget this game.”
The Delaware offense came out firing, especially in the second half.
Whitewater, Belleville Win in WIIL
It was all about the new and the old Saturday in the Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa League (WIIL) men’s DII college conference as defending champs the UW-Whitewater Warhawks, and newcomers Lindenwood-Belleville Lynx both won.
While conference newcomers Northern Iowa will have to wait for their debut - their opener was called off - and with two games to be played on Sunday, it was a small start for the conference, but a meaningful one.
Whitewater defeated UW-Platteville 60-5 behind a nice influx of youth.
Big MAC Wins for WMU, Ohio
Western Michigan rebouned nicely after last week's tough loss to Davenport with a 37-5 defeat of Kent State in their Mid-American Conference (MAC) opener Saturday.
Kent State, for their part, was playing their first conference game since moving up from DII, and acquitted themselves well in various aspects - especially in counter-rucking and handling the level of physicality - but couldn't win much of their set piece, and so played defense way too much.
"When we played Davenport, we were disappointed in how we played, and we didn't win much of our set piece," said WMU head Coach Mark Allen. "So we addressed that and we did a good job. We were much better and Kent State had to play defense most of the time. Our performance today was 180 degrees from the Davenport game."
Empire Conference Latest
It looks like the Empire Conference may be in for a shakeup in 2015, as teams that finished high up in 2014 lost Saturday.
Colgate got two early tries from senior Zach Herzog and never looked back as they defeated SUNY Brockport 36-10 to open their account in the Empire Conference.
Syracuse went into this season feeling confident, and that was borne out in the opening weekend of the Empire Conference as the Hammerheads won comfortably 36-13 over Fordham.
Wing Ethan Palleschi scored Syracuse’s opening try, and a second from Sam Reimnitz put the Hammerheads up 14-3 (Jack Faure’s conversions) at halftime.
Wheeling Jesuit Over Iona
Wheeling Jesuit opened their Rugby East conference account with an impressive 37-19 defeat of Iona Saturday.
In a tough, physical game, Iona shocked WJU a little early on with their aggressive defensive front, but the Gaels couldn’t get anything on the scoreboard for their efforts, and the Cardinals entered halftime up 12-0.
JMU Downs Virginia Tech
James Madison celebrated their move to DI with their first DI victory, defeating Virginia Tech 31-18 Friday night.
The victory followed up a humbling loss to South Carolina last week.
"Last week was one of the worst games we've played," said JMU head Coach Mark Lambourne. "But they played a lot better this game."
AIC Downs NEC
The American International College Yellow Jackets opened up their ECRC Conference with a 24-7 defeat of New England College in the President Trophy rivalry match.
This was NEC’s first DI college game, as they have moved up from the National Small College Rugby Organization division. NEC in fact led early, scoring off a penalty and lineout in the 5th minute to lead 7-0. But AIC replied with a try from wing Deshae Edwards, who chased down a Jihad Khabir kick to touch down. And then wing Lui Sitama went over on a similar play on the other side to give the Yellow Jackets a lead they would not relinquish.
DI Conferences Heat Up
It's a big weekend in Men's DI action around the country.
Check back on this article for scores throughout the weekend. We have links on the schedule below to articles previewing specific conferences or teams.
