Several Front-Runners in MARC Small-College Title Chase
Several Front-Runners in MARC Small-College Title Chase
The Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference small-college scene is a little confused because the small-college teams mix up with the D2 teams, but the top smaller teams are coming to the fore.
Susquehanna, Penn State Berks, Widener, Catholic, and Gettysburg are all still undefeated and could well all make a splash on the national scene.
For Susquehanna and Widener, the situation is a little tougher because they are in a Small-College / D2 hybrid conference. The other two are in a Small-College-only division.
Widener is 3-0 in the MARC D2/SC Hyrbrid East, but they have Lehigh and Villanova still on their schedule. That will be a big test.
Despite being his with injuries and a bout with COVID, Susquehanna was able to battle past Scranton and Bucknell in close games, and also won more comfortably over York and Bloomsburg. They won vs York despite having 22 players out for one reason or another.
But they still have experience, with 13 seniors and 10 players who have been playing for at least four years. The bad news there? Susquehanna was missing eight of those 10 against Bucknell and Bloomsburg. The silver lining? They beat Bucknell 15-12 anyway.
"Young and new players are really stepping up," said Head Coach Jon Niles.
Niles has also brought in Scott Stratton, who some years ago ran the Shippensburg women's team when it was winning national championships. Stratton makes the trip each week to help with thw squad and has made, said Niles, a huge difference.
"He has really changed our attack to be more dynamic," said Niles.
For Gettysburg, they feel like they can finally get on the field and compete. Gettysburg's seniors went 5-1 in their freshman year and then were 5-1 again in 2021. The COVID shutdown was rough for them, but they are now thinking big.
After lopsided wins over DeSales and Millersville, they had to battle to win at Albright before a week off last week.
Next up is Lafayette.
"It has been a complete effort this year but our two senior co-captains have distinguished themselves," said Head Coach Jeff Cook. That would be Sebastian Suppes and Ben Murphy.
Suppes leads the conference with 49 points, while Murphy leads all players with eight tries while also setting up several more.
"Our goal is to work hard, stay humble and keep winning games," said Cook. "Our success has been fueled by fitness and team play. We try to share the ball and take advantage of our collective speed.
Catholic beat a very good Loyola side last week 47-26. They have scored 47 or more four times in a row.
Penn State Berks sits at 4-0, with Gettysburg in the same division at 3-0. Both beat Albright in close games, Berks won 21-15 and Gettysburg 25-19—so at first glance there seems to be little between them. The two meet October 22.
Widener has had to battle in all of their games, winning their three conference games by a grand total of 13 points, including 34-33 over College of New Jersey. But as we mentioned above, they take on Lehigh and Villanova.
