Rugby Oklahoma’s Bixby Rugby produced some notable results in a small tournament in Germantown, Tenn. over the weekend.

Bixby defeated Christian Brothers HS out of the Memphis area 41-19 and Father Ryan out of the Nashville area 21-7.

But perhaps the biggest result was a 15-13 defeat of Germantown, secured on the last play of the game.

In other results, Father Ryan beat Christian Brothers 7-0, and Germantown beat Little Rock 42-0.

Germantown, ranked #18 among HS clubs, went up 10-3 at halftime but had difficulty keeping 15 players on the field—hit as they were with three yellow cards.

For the #4-ranked School team Bixby, the comeback actually happened just before halftime. With Germantown up 10-0, fullback Drak Poth slotted a penalty goal to get his team on the board.

“His penalty kick before the half was huge,” said Bixby Head Coach Chris Smith. “It ended up being the difference.”

Bixby had their own problems. They lost senior outside center Kevin Ordorica to a knee injury early in this game and sent freshman Justin Kirk to fill in. Kirk hadn’t practiced at center in the last two weeks, and facing Germantown’s imposing midfield was a tough task. But he made some key tackles and made one big run that energized the Bixby team.

Senior captain Matt Doyle was a force all weekend and with the score 13-10 Germantown and time up, it was Doyle who scored the game-winner.

Down by three and with time running out Bixby got the ball back and that’s when Kirk found some space and galloped into Germantown territory. The Bixby support was there at the ruck and Germantown was penalized. Drake kicked for touch and got full value of territory, and then from the lineout they mauled ahead.

“With the success we had been having in the set pieces we knew we had a shot to sneak one in,” said Smith. 

Germantown was penalized in the maul, Doyle tapped quick, went low, and was over.

“Germantown Is a class club that plays a fast, physical style of rugby,” said Smith. “We knew with our limited roster we were going to have to weather the storm and we just wanted to keep it close and give our selves a chance at the end. They came out the gate and were absolutely pounding us, but our boys kept popping up. They were putting a ton of defensive pressure on us that lead to a ton of dropped balls but our set pieces were able to keep us in the match.”

As for Germantown Head Coach Kevin Roedel, there were some lessons in that loss. Noting that his team won only three of nine lineouts, got three yellow cards, and missed some key chances to get points, he added: “[you] can’t beat good teams when you beat yourself.”

“We told the boys at halftime to just stay in it and keep pushing the pace,” said Smith. “Incredible match—awesome win for our club and this young team that I’ll remember for a long time.”