Rowan College may still be undefeated in the MARC Conference South, but it was a rough test for them last week.

The team was late to the venue, shortening their warmup, and missing a couple of players because of injury, and as a result saw York run out to an early lead.

“We showed a lot of resilience,” said co-captain JC Carr. “They had the lead from the get-go, but we remembered how last year we were down 31-0 in the playoffs and came back to win it. We just had to buckle down and play the way we want to play.”

Despite giving up their first points of the season, Rowan managed to put it all aside and come back, scoring three tries in the final 15 minutes to eke out a 32-27 victory.

“Everyone stepped up,” said Carr. 

Flyhalf Mike Erlich was carrying and injury, but powered through. Subs came off the bench to provide a much-needed boost. Win Matt Bettin fixed their kick-chase and put York under pressure.

“We were just determined that we wouldn’t let the circumstances beat us,” said Carr. 

the Rowan players pride themselves on their defense, and it’s the discipline to play defense and stick to the pattern - “not calling plays that aren’t part of the plan,” said Carr. And despite giving up 27 to York, that defense will be back on the job Saturday against East Stroudsburg.

Rowan is set to play in the MARC semifinals, with IUP probably taking the #1 seed out of the MARC North. Two more teams get into the semis, and could be Slippery Rock, York, Drexel, or Lehigh, although York and Drexel have the inside track.

Whichever combination it is, they will have a lot of work to do to score against Rowan.