Davenport Wins First Conference Game

The Davenport men jumped into 2nd in the Mid-South with a 26-7 defeat of Lindenwood Saturday in the final conference game of the season.

Steve Zomberg photos.

Both teams, by virtue of their very close losses to conference champion Life, had already secured a DIA playoff spot, but rankings and a little pride was on the line. Davenport had actually never won a Mid-South game, but did superbly in this one, jumping out to a 17-0 lead and holding on to win.

Davenport drew first blood  the 17th minute with a try from Gabe Sochanek. Then they scored two tries in quick succession from Reece Czarnecki and Anthony Welmers, with one conversion from JP Eloff, to lead 17-0. Lindenwood replied with the only try of the game for the Lions - Sebastian Kalm doing the honors, and Patrick Mulligan converting.

In a defensive-minded second half, Eloff hit three penalty goals to wrap it up 26-7.

This was the only game in the entire Mid-South season that didn't produce a close-loss bonus point. That, in fact, was why Davenport was able to bypass Lindenwood for 2nd. No team in the conference managed to score four tries in a game in what has to be the most competitive conference in American rugby (although Rugby East might have something to say about that).