Could the most competitive league in DIAA be the SIRC South?

It’s worth a look, as the loss of Florida Atlantic makes the all-Florida men’s college competitive a four-team donnybrook of six grueling games for all.

At the center of the discussion would be Central Florida, which has made the last three national DIAA finals, beating Bowling Green in 2013 and Arizona in 2014, before falling in a close one to UC David this past spring. But it hasn’t been all conch fritters and gator burritos for the Knights, as they lost their opener last year, and, in fact, did so again this year.

UCF were upended by a resurgent South Florida team, and Coach Gordon Campbell said that 14-10 result is certainly a reflection that his team is improving, but also a reflection of how UCF starts slowly.

“See how they look in a few weeks,” Campbell warned.

The game itself was not a game of two halves, as the phrase goes, but rather a game of one half, reputed. UCF scored around the 7th minute, held USF off for a while, and gave up a late first-half try, that was converted, for a 7-5 South Florida lead at the break.

Then in the second period, it was the same, with UCF scoring around the 7th minute, bashing their heads against the USF defensive wall, and then seeing the Bulls score a converted try to win it.

“We were tough, we hung in there,” said Campbell. “We had some good moments but really it was just tackling - defense and guts - that won it for us.”

Flanker Andre Del Real, flyhalf George Preece, and outside center Franz Mbayiwa are three sophomores who have elevated their game for USF, and they will need it.

There are no easy games here,” said Campbell. “Teams in the playoffs complain about having to get through Central Florida. Well we have to play them at least twice a year.”

It won’t be easy this coming weekend, as South Florida hosts a Florida International team that beat a good Florida State team 36-7.

Santi Laphitzondo, who scored two tries on the day, said the team has made a commitment to get better and challenge the best in the conference.

“Everyone wants to be a better asset to the team,” said the club president. FIU almost qualified for the national club 7s finals during the summer, and their success in playing 7s against men’s clubs was a huge confidence boost.

“We didn’t know how good we could be until we started showing it in the games,” he said. 

While Laphitzondo got on the scoresheet more than once and Julian Alvarez has improved his game mightily, Laphitzondo said that FIU’s improvement is about unselfishness.

“Everybody wants to make the team better,” he said. “Some things go unnoticed and that’s the thing that leads to victory. Both the players who do the unnoticed job and the players who do the scoring are needed.”

Central Florida takes on Florida State in a game that is crucial for both teams, as both are currently 0-1.