In Southern California, SOC Raptors defeated a tenacious Back Bay club 29-22. That moved the Raptors 1-1.
Back Bay is a group of big, powerful athletes and while they are now 0-3 they have competed, staying within a try vs Belmont Shore and SOC.
"That was a very good rugby team, well coached, physical, that we played on Saturday," said Raptors Head Coach Sam McMillan. "Back Bay for years was the standard bearers in SoCal we looked up to be."
Depleted a bit due to injuries to some experienced teams, the Raptors fielded a relatively young group.
"While for large periods we looked out of it, this young group held the belief we could win it," said McMillan.
And win they did. Led by No. 8 Jxson Day and scrumhalf Zander Stephens (making his A-side debut), they kept at it. Stephensmscored a key try late on a quick-tap.
Center Connor Rios and Jesse Torres were gritty throughout, and it was a run by Torres followed by a well-taken offload that set up the try on the final play to win the game.
Key to this win was tactics. The Raptors were unable to win their lineouts and so on penalties opted to scrum every time. It was a smart move and probably helped them win.
So now the San Diego Mustangs lead SoCal with a 2-0 record, with Thunder at 2-1 and both Belmont Shore and SOC Raptors at 1-1 in the SoCal Premier league. A bit unlucky, Back Bay is 0-3.
San Diego, meanwhile, took a trip to Arizona, beating Red Mountain 69-5 and running their 2nd side against Tempe, which Tempe won.
Next up SOC plays Belmont Shore, while San Diego takes on Back Bay.
