Thunder Chickens Fly; Principia Takes D2 Crown
Thunder Chickens Fly; Principia Takes D2 Crown
Speed, so the saying goes, kills, and certainly it was deadly on Sunday.
Principia’s speed isn’t their only attribute, but it helps, a lot, and Sunday at Aveva Stadium the Thunder Chickens sped their way to NCR’s National D2 Championship, defeating IUP 47-16 in the process.
A blowout? Hardly. The game was tight for a long period and even the final score was the closest any D2 team had gotten to Principia. In the quarterfinals Mira Costa College got within 35 at 66-31; in the semis Loyola held tough at 52-14, but no team had held Principia to less than 50, and no team was closer than IUP’s 31.
Part of that was due to some dogged defensive work by IUP (no, seriously; they didn’t give up on plays that would have been tries against other teams), part of that was Principia being careful because IUP was so good.
Head Coach Philip Kellerman said he is usually trying to rein in his players, understanding that there could come a time where their free-flying, somewhat risky style of play could backfire. But Principia, with wings Bradley Mayekiso and Celino Petersen being almost impossible to tackle the first time, fullback Matoka Matoka setting everyone up, and scrumhalf Damilola Odunuga having an MVP performance, they always seemed to make it work.
In the final IUP started by putting Principia under plenty of pressure, and after a couple of missed penalty kicks, put one over to lead 3-0.
Principia continued to choose run over kick, partly because they like to run and partly because IUP handled kicks better than most. Finally the Thunder Chickens got over for a try but later, in something of a shock more, opted to go for goal on a penalty—which they made.
That decision, said Kellerman, was all about the respect they had for IUP’s defense, especially in tight.
The teams traded scored, but they were tries for Principia and penalties for IUP and it was 20-6 at halftime.
Flanker Takudzwa Naringo scored on a pick-and-go, and then center Mateo Ferreyra scored on a blast up the middle—not your typical Principia tries—and it all started to come together. Odunuga scored on a run on the outside, and set up one on a box kick into in-goal that looked like it was going to do nothing, and yet was chased down.
It was that kind of day.
IUP scored at the end and they thoroughly deserved that try.
For IUP it was the end of a very impressive year that was also challenging. Few days more challenging than the last couple, as their semifinal with NC State ended with their captain and talismanic scrumhalf RJ Beach going down with a broken ankle. He had surgery and was on the sidelines in a cast and on crutches and was actually carried by teammates to the team photo.
Beaten up a bit they got some heroic performances, with fullback Brian Arnold having all sorts of work to do to try to contain the Principia speedsters. Lock Colton Moyer may well be the most valuable player in all of D2 rugby for what he brings to a team that is successful.
Principia? They are a tiny college in Illinois that has produced something special thanks to some passionate coaches and, yes, for sure, some talent from overseas. But talent is one thing, making it a team and a single unit is something else.
“We are mostly international players, but we have that brotherhood,” said No. 8 Fran Alessio. “We support each other in every aspect of our life ... that is also reflected on the field.”
