The new CRAA Challenger Cup has its finalists as Grand Canyon and Mary Washington won their semifinals by wide margins.
GCU beat a tough Utah State team 72-6 to advance. USU took an early lead with a penalty from Franco Tellechea and stayed on the strong foot for quite a while. However, GCU's defense was up to the task.
Twelve minutes in the 'Lopes put the ball through the hands to set up Luke Neely for a 30-meter run. GCU kept up the pressure from there and eventually the forwards drove Vince McKeefery over. From the restart Brennen Boyle broke through and fed Nigel Johnson for another try.
They kept up that desire to move the ball and as a result Ben Saunders, Jackson Gray, and Boyle (twice) were over to make it 36-3 at halftime.
It was the same scoring for the second half. Tellechea again kicked an early penalty and GCU again scored six tries with three conversions. McKeefery's try near the midpoint of the second half kind of opened it up and then Gene Kendall, Boyle again, and three from Lewis Case capped it off.
"That was not an easy 70-point performance today," said 'Lopes Head Coach Sean O'Leary. "That was being unselfish and using what we had. The pleasing part was we played away from contact. We knew they were big, and once USU knew they couldn't win the game, they tried to win the war, and we wound up winning that, too. It's a sign of maturity. I've known for a while what our potential is, and we're coming good at the right time."
