Southern Nazarene, SLU Wins Highlight Gateway Opening Weekend
Southern Nazarene, SLU Wins Highlight Gateway Opening Weekend
Southern Nazarene kicked off their entry into conference play with a 53-23 defeat of a very solid UMS&T side in the Gateway Conference.
As Southern Nazarene is a school-supported team they are not eligible for the D2 playoffs, and would potentially track to a D1AA postseason under NCR. But they still have to get some conference competition and the Gateway is the best place for that.
This is a very young SNU side as befits a new program. From their roster of 25, only a small few are older than freshman or sophomore. So it's no surprise that some freshmen stood out. First-year scrumhalf Tré Griffin led the attack nicely and scored three tries, for example.
Some older players did well also, getting player of the game honors after scoring three tries, including one where he launched a high ball on the run, caught it, and galloped in from 40 meters out.
Both Griffin and Bradford played for SNU Head Coach Aric Gilliland when they were at Yukon High School (now known as F5 Rugby), so there was a comfort level there, too. Griffin connected well with flyhalf Creed Hicken to keep the attack moving.
"They maintained a nice balance of using the forwards‘ strength and backs’ speed and skills to attack all areas of the pitch," said Gilliland.
The game was much closer at halftime, with SNU ahead only 20-15 at the break. S&T then tied the game right after halftime. But for the final 30 minutes it was pretty much all Crimson Storm, with the forwards getting the upper hand in the set piece and the SNU backs winning the kicking game.
"We have a lot of improvement to make but the boys have given themselves a nice platform upon which they can build," said Gilliland.
Pitt State beat John Brown 47-12, which was probably a result that was expected. Washington University shut out Maryville 60-0.
The closest clash then was St. Louis University 20 Southern Illinois 7 in a clash of two teams looking for a conference title.
Scrumhalf Matt James put SLU on the board early with a penalty goal. It was a defensive game and both teams had a tough time breaking through. But finally SLU broke through when flanker Ean Fagan took a pop pass from No. 8 Gabe Sweezy off a tap penalty move, and St. Louis led 8-0 at halftime.
SLU came back out for the second half and hooker Anthony Cova charged down the sideline for a try. The conversion from Matt James made it 15-0. Southern Illinois finally got on the scoreboard with a try ten minutes to go, but SLU answered with a try from Collin Baichtal as time ticked award.
It won't get any easier for SIU as they face Principia. SLU takes on a clearly tough Washington U., Central Missouri takes on S&T, Southern Nazarene faces John Brown, and Pitt State visits Washburn.
