Here's a quick look at where we are in the NCR D1AA playoff berths after this weekend.
MARC
St. Joseph's and Virginia Tech advance to Sunday's Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference final after winning semifinals on Saturday.
VT was tested by West Chester, giving up 31 points to the Rams. But they still held on. 47-31. Through MARC play this season (including playoffs) the Hokies have gone 5-0-1, scoring 298 and giving up 119.
St. Joe's beat James Madison 49-28. The Hawks were led by a pair of tries from No. 8 Brian Donahue, and also from prop Michael Rooney, and also from flanker PJ Degnan. With wing Jay Arce and center Felix Crawford adding tries and six points from Jeff George's boot, St. Joe's continues its unleash a powerful attack.
Both of these teams have made the NCR national playoffs and go straight to the Round of 8.
UPDATE: Virginia Tech took the #1 seed with a 31-27 win over St. Joe's.
SCRC
Kentucky, after looking in control all season, had their work cut out for them in the SCRC final, eking out a victory to the tune of 8-7 over Clemson. Both teams are in the playoffs so that's really just the seeding match.
Meanwhile, in the 3rd-4th game, LASU ran out to a 20-5 lead and held on 23-15 to beat South Carolina. That put the Tigers into a play-in scenario with the Southern champ NC State. The Wolfpack are led by Zach Piepho, who was the player of the game in the conference-clinching match last week.
That is the only Play-In game in the NCR D1AA playoffs.
