Davenport University has been training outside exactly once in the last few months, but it was enough to propel them to an improbable victory over Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark. Saturday.

On a chilly day that wasn’t anywhere near as cold as it has been in Michigan, Davenport’s home, the Panthers dominated possession and did just enough to beat a Red Wolves team fresh off a Men’s CRC 7s Qualifier win in Las Vegas.

With the two teams relatively even in the scrums, Davenport had the edge in the lineouts, with Gabe Sochanek having a strong game at hooker and flanker Conor Schilling http://www.goffrugbyreport.com/news/bosco-wins-socal-title-wild-final and No. 8 Carl Smith backing him up well. Meanwhile, Eagle-candidate prop Angus MacLellan played an inspirational game, as usual. 

Davenport in white. Steve Zomberg photos.
Click on image to enlarge.

“We’ve been working a lot on our defensive pattern and how we want to play the game,” said Davenport Head Coach James Wood. “We’re not game fit yet, but we thought we could put everything we had into the first half and build a lead, and work from there.”

That’s exactly what they did, with scrumhalf Kevin Lydon going over for the team’s only try of the day. Flyhalf JP Eloff converted that and added three penalties for a 16-0 halftime lead.

ASU came back with a try in the second half, but couldn’t get much going as the Panthers held on to the ball.

“We knew we needed to maintain ball possession and we did a good job of that,” said Wood. “We felt we could build off the fall’s win over Lindenwood and just work our defensive pattern and keep the ball. It’s a great way to start off the season.”

Coming up next for Davenport is a trip to Clemson for a scrimmage, and then on to Life for the first of four Mid-South DIA games (Arkansas State is no longer in that conference so it’s just Davenport, Life, and Lindenwood).

“It will be a tough trip,” said Wood. “But we need to time outside to work on some things.”