Three second-half tries bolstered by some significant impact from their impact subs saw Louisville defeat Bowling Green in a meeting of the top two teams from Mid-American Conference.

Both teams had held off Western Michigan and won all of their conference games going into their faceoff in Louisville. The game promised to be tense and close and it was both of those and more. The 27-10 final score belies how tight this game was.

Emotions seemed set to boil over early on as both teams wanted to establish physical dominance early. But referee Nathan Myers did well to keep things controlled.

In the opening minutes it was clear each team had a plan. Louisville felt they could beat Bowling Green with their packs and playing wide, while BGSU would rely somewhat more on their forwards.

Bowling Green had the run of play early and punished a Louisville penalty to work their way down the field and punch it over with the forwards—prop Cody Luther crashing over to finish it off.

Louisville looked to come back and seemed to have a try out on the wing through a kick-pass, but that was called back for offside.  But eventually they got the points. A kick to touch for a penalty missed tough, but the Louisville chase was solid and after Bowling Green tried to kick clear the Cardinals countered, set a ruck in the Falcons’ 22, and then ran weak where flanker Angelo Eklou was over to make it 5-5.

Seeing Yellow

That’s how the score remained through the first half. Bowling Green generally had more possession and better field position. But big hits, led by prop Devon Roosna, would often force knock-ons, and Bowling Green ballcarriers were also penalized for holding on. Add in two missed penalty goals and the half ended with Bowling Green having let several scoring opportunities slip.

That half also ended with a player from each team in the sin bin.

Louisville’s defense was strong, however, and despite the fact that the Bowling Green scrum was dominant, the Falcons couldn’t break through.

The Cardinals edged ahead with a penalty goal but then put themselves in a risky position. With the scrums and even the lineouts not going their way Louisville looked to tap penalties. But on one tap in their own half, not enough players were engaged in the plan and Bowling Green forced a holding-on penalty. The Falcons took the lineout, ran a very effective maul, and then went left to probe under the posts. Louisville held on but Bowling Green spun it back to the right where lock Zach Szepiela ran over in the corner to make it 10-8 Bowling Green.

Both teams started to probe defenses with the boot and that’s where Louisville fullback Ryan Cammarata was able to shine. His shifty feet put him in a position to make some key probing kicks and off one of those the chase pinned BG back and forced a penalty. The Cardinals tapped quickly and quickly AJ Ayers was over for a 13-10 Louisville lead.

Bench Strength

The reserves came on for Louisville and started to make an impact. Freshman Brennan MortonStrauss was certainly involved on both sides of the ball and quick ball from the rucks gave the scrumhalf-turned center a chance to bull over that, with the conversion, made it 20-10.

Bowling Green continued to make things difficult for themselves. Center Jake Kubicki had already received a yellow card when he got another for tackling the man without the ball. With two yellows, that was a red, and suddenly the prospect of a Bowling Green comeback seemed even more distant.

Still BGSU kept at it and were on the front foot for a time. Little mistakes, however, killed their chances.

Finally the Falcons got a penalty and went for the lineout and maul. It was a good maul that covered some ground, but when they spun it the Cardinals were on the ball quickly. Flanker Parker Anderson poached, and Louisville went on the attack. Once again Cammarata found some space and then kicked deep. The chase was excellent, forced a penalty, and off the quick tap Eklou powered over for his second. that finished it off at 27-10.