Marquette HS Impressive in Wisconsin HS Final
Marquette HS Impressive in Wisconsin HS Final
Marquette University finished their season in a peak, beating a very good Green Bay Leprechauns team 50-0 to win the Wisconsin State championship.
It was a wet and muddy day and with the playoff games having produced various handling errors due in part to the conditions and in part due to defensive pressure, the same was expected in this final. However, the Hilltoppers adjusted.
"We knew going into the match that possession was going to be key," said Marquette Head Coach Colin Dillon, "so we tightened things up a bit and our forwards knew a lot was expected out of them for the 60 minutes."
The first try was scored off of a kick counter by fullback Nick Womack, outside center Diego Serrano, and wing Augie Stangl. That try seemed to open up the throttle for Marquette and they played with confidence after that.
The majority of the first half was spent with Marquette in the Green Bay 22. They were held up in-goal twice. But they did start to finish off scoring chances. A smart heads-up play by Sam Beck at scrumhalf set up Jack Dorely for a try on the weak side. Josh Nacker put another in off a quick-tap. Finishing the first half, a line break and offload by inside center Jude Ballinger set up wing Evan Maier, and Marquette was rolling.
For Beck that weakside move was a nice play for someone who normally plays flyhalf. With some players off on a service trip to the Domininan Republic, Becker was moved to the #9 jersey and played very well. Also showing well in the first half were Dillon Gallagher, Nate Schramm, and Mike Nolan, who led the defensive effort among the forwards.
"Going into half, we knew Green Bay was not going to quit," said Dillon. "They were down against Northshore and fought back, so we couldn't lose focus or let up."
Becker scored early with another quick-tap. then a weird one when Diego Serrano was held up in a tackle and the Marquette players swarmed in to form a huge maul in the middle of the field. Not in the maul was Becker, who waited until enough Green Bay players were engaged to snipe around the weak side and score. Nacker added another try and Becker contributed a penalty to round out the scoring at 50-0.
And while, yes, the defense was excellent for Marquette, but it was how they handled the conditions that really saw the Hilltoppers home. (Check out more on Marquette HS Rugby here>>)
"We counted less than five handling errors on our part, and we're very proud of that," said Dillon. "We the coaches are very proud of what these boys accomplished this year. Going down to St. Louis with a good number of rookies, unsure about how we were going to perform, started things off on the right foot and we kept things going all year, learning and growing as a cohesive side. While we are graduating a handful of seniors, we are optimistic for the future with some solid returning players, now having this season under their belts."
Nacker had a big day and in fact he ended his school year as a state champion in three different sports—football, basketball, and rugby.
(Thanks Badger Kings for the team photo.)
