Berks County Rugby 7s entered two teams into the Delco 7s this past weekend, taking home two team and two individual trophies after a 7-1-2 day.
With a few weeks of practice under their belt, including guest coaching appearances from CRC champions Kutztown University and Rugby East newcomer Mount St Mary’s University, the 28-player squad certainly was in position to start the summer well.
The Berks I squad started out pool play against a physical and well coached MD15 team. MD15 started out fast and scored the game’s first two tries to take a 10-0 at halftime. This would be the only two tries scored on the Berks I team over the next six halves of rugby. Berks played suffocating defense and stuck to their offensive structure. They did that and with a hat trick from Diohnny Ruiz Berks won 17-15.
In the second pool game, Berks faced Vipers I out of Baltimore, Md. Berks started out fast, maintaining possession for long periods of time. This resulted in tries from Ruiz, Anthony Bourassa, Turk Baum, Jax Shingleton, Ulices Ramirez, and Aiden Pavlek. Final score Berks 42 Vipers 0.
Berks went up against Wilmington (DE) in the final pool play game. Sticking to their structure and playing staunch defense, Berks continued their success with tries from Ramirez (2), Ruiz, Bourassa, Jake Stelluti, Izaiyah Wilson, Cole Boyer and Manahi Chicoine. Final Score Berks 48 Wilmington 0.
In the semifinals, Berks faced the Minutemen out of Washington DC. Berks continued to put the opposition under pressure and capitalize on any mistakes. That resulted in an early lead thank to tries from Ruiz, Ramirez, and Chicoine. The Minutemen got one back but tries from Bourassa and Stelluti finished it off 27-5.
