Resurgent James Madison a Player in MARC Hierarchy
Resurgent James Madison a Player in MARC Hierarchy
Don’t look now but James Madison is making a move.
After a series of years where JMU was not getting the results they are used to, the Dukes are now 3-0 and right in the thick of it with 4-0-1 St. Joseph’s and 3-0 Rowan.
How they stack up against Rowan remains to be seen as their October meeting was postponed. But JMU, still, is looking strong, and the success is in part due to how much effort the program put in to developing younger players. When they were in the old Chesapeake Conference, JMU won the Futures League, which was a conference championship for B sides.
“I was on the dev side and then players in the Futures League,” said current JMU captain Declan Arnott. “It was a really good competition and I think gave us an IQ advantage as we moved up.”
Now in the MARC, JMU continues to compete.
“I love being in this conference,” said Arnott. “It is really competitive in the MARC and results are all over the place. That variability is one of the reasons I love it.”
JMU is winning in part because their scrum is very strong. Against Salisbury and West Chester they won multiple strikes against the head.
“Our scrum is really solid,” said Arnott. “And over all our physicality and our defense. It’s always a physical game in this conference.”
Flyhalf Dylan Huddock moved from scrumhalf to the #10 jersey after Alex French was injured in a preseason game with Virginia Tech. At either position Huddock has been very good, running hard, and showing off a good idea of how the game works.
“He has a high rugby IQ and he very much sets the tone,” said Arnott.
No, 8 Carter Elder is a big, powerful runner who brings a lot of energy to the team.
With younger players coming in too, JMU may well have turned a corner, but challenges remain.
This coming they face a physical Rutgers side that is a bit unlucky to be 0-4. The chase remains afoot to see who will be top in the conference. St. Joseph’s has Rowan and Delaware over the next couple of weeks. Barring a reschedule with Rowan, the big game could well be November 12 St. Joseph’s at JMU. There we might find that James Madison has really turned the corner.
| MARC | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| St. Joseph's | 4 | 0 | 1 | 181 | 83 | 98 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| James Madison | 3 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 37 | 92 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Rowan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 61 | 39 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Salisbury | 3 | 2 | 0 | 89 | 106 | -17 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| West Chester | 1 | 2 | 2 | 125 | 178 | -53 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Maryland | 1 | 2 | 1 | 71 | 112 | -41 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Delaware | 1 | 3 | 0 | 101 | 102 | -1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Temple | 1 | 4 | 0 | 82 | 132 | -50 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Rutgers | 0 | 4 | 0 | 61 | 128 | -67 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
