Saturday there’s the little matter of a DIA championship to be figured out.

For the third year in a row, Life University plays St. Mary’s, and perhaps the first hope is that it will be an entertaining, open game. The last two have been marked by aggressive defense, and the idea that the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.

At their best, both teams can dominate a game and even dominate very strong opponents. They can also, as Life Coach Tui Osborne put it, “owe focus.”

Blane McIlroy's kicking boot will be important for the Running Eagles.

Tyrus Baytops was outstanding for Life last weekend. DoctorHawkPhoto.

The Gaels defense had to hold on when Davenport started hogging the possession. Michael Geib photo.

Scoring tries is fun. Michael Geib photo.

“We played 44 minutes of pretty darned good rugby Saturday,” said St. Mary’s Head Coach Tim O’Brien of his team’s 48-32 defeat of Davenport. And it’s hard to argue with the stats - 31-3 four minutes into the second half, and then the Panthers outscored the Gaels 29-17 the remainder of the game.

JP Eloff shifted to center, and was all kinds of handful for St. Mary’s, and they played aggressive support rugby. Meanwhile, St. Mary’s kind of allowed little lapses to creep in.

“We’ve had an issue with complacency in the second half,” said O’Brien. “It only takes a couple of guys. One guy checks out for a minute, and then another checks out. It can become contagious. And with Davenport playing so well - every kids for them stepped up tall - it just kind of grew. The ball was in play for 19 minutes in the second half, and Davenport had 15 minutes of that.”

So the good news is, the St. Mary’s defense actually did a nice job, seeing as they were defending all the time.

Meanwhile, Osborne was talking about the same problems.

“We are starting to put it together, but we need 80 minutes of focus, and we’re not getting it yet. It’s all about which of the teams can stay focused for 80 minutes. It’s so easy to let off.”

Jake McFadden has been one player who stays on-task throughout the game, said Osborne, but he needs more.

“We’re starting to do the job and do it well, but if we don’t build on that, we are going to have a tough time with a really good St. Mary’s team,” said Osborne.

Life still put Lindenwood to the sword, and their coach, JD Stephenson, said “Life was tremendous. Just everyone, one through 22, is exceptional, clinical. Their attack was in point, they kicked when they needed to, and defensively - Scott Lawrence has them playing really well.”

O’Brien piled on with the Life-love.

“This week we’ll be pretty hard-pressed against an extremely talented Life team,” said the St. Mary’s coach. “They are better than they were last year. They look seasoned and confident. I mean, if you think of an American rugby academy, it’s got to be Life. It’s an excellent, professional environment.”

Both Osborne and O’Brien say their team is the underdog, so that just means the game will be close, once again. It could come down to a wild play or two, as it has done the last two years.

In fact, it always comes down to something. The first DIA final was in 2011, with Cal beating BYU 21-14. The next year, BYU defeated Arkansas State 49-42 in one of the wildest national finals anyone can remember. A year later, Life edged St. Mary’s 16-14. So last year’s 21-6 St. Mary’s victory over Life might seem like something of a blowout - it wasn’t, as St. Mary’s scored right at the end of the game, which was in doubt right up until the final whistle.

This year? expect more of the same from two underdogs who still aren’t sure they are getting it right.