UMW over Kutztown Leads Rugby East Weekend
UMW over Kutztown Leads Rugby East Weekend
The Rugby East once again is the competitive gift that keeps on giving as we get exciting and interesting results, and always a few surprises.
Queens vs Mount Saint Mary's
Of course we pumped MSM up a bit and they lost but really this was a battle until Queens started to pull away. For Queens this was their first conference game after some warmups tilts vs SCRC sides South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.
Queens has made some changes. Last year Head Coach Frank McKinney ran both the attack and the defense. This year he has retained full responsibility of the defense but Associate Head Coach Tyree Reed has taken on the attack. It's a good combination and the players have responded. But overall McKinney was very happy with the defensive side of things. JC Curry leads from the front and has been outstanding.
Chester Stanyon scored three tries for Queens, and while freshman Zach Coulson had to leave early with an ankle issue, he was solid at flyhalf and made good decisions.
"What's really good is that we have a bench of players who could start on other teams. They're a try bomb squad like Suth Africa has, that raises the intensity," said McKinney.
Seth Vallance was an excellent example of that.
You're Up and You're Down
Kutztown beat Walsh last week and had to feel good about that. But this week they matched up with Mary Washington, and UMW came away with the 38-19 victory.
Sebastian Schefferman was outstanding for the Mothers, Handling his playmake duties well Schefferman also logged 18 points on four penalty goals and three conversions.
Head Coach Charbel Medlej said iy was Chefferman's boot that kept his side in the game in the first half, which did not go UMW's way.
With tries from Callum Emmans, Harrison Flower, Kit Waddington, and Tian Pretorius, UMW started to take control in the second half.
"It was just a great team win," said Medlej. "Everyone played well and we played much better defense in the second half, folding around the ruck and not giving many overloads and not committing penalties."
They limited Kutztown to just one try in the second half. Also key for UMW was their front row off the bench, which handled the scrums well.
Navy Does Enough
As reported earlier on GRR, Navy beat Penn State 35-10. This was a game that was very competitive and quite close for a while. Navy's penchant for scoring a pile of tries late was stymied by a gritty PSU defense.
But the Midshipmen put together periods of some impressive rugby and looked exciting in the open field.
Navy Men Over Penn State in Rugby East Action
Army Also Winners
Army controlled possession early, pressing toward the try zone in the first 13 minutes. Southern Virginia's defense held firm but couldn't stop George Engels from powering through to score. Howie Heller converted to make it 7-0. Four minutes later Benji Kemp broke through and it was 12-0. Heller added a try to make it 17-0.
Chance Loudenback scored just five minutes later, this one also converted by Heller, widening the gap to 24-0, and he added a penalty goal to make it 27-0 at halftime.
The second half saw Jack Reed cross over (Heller converted) and after that SVU finally got a try. Army's Jacob Bottarini scored and Heller converted, followed by Loudenback's second, also converted bby Heller to finish the game off 48-7.
Life over Walsh
Life University opened their Rugby East account with an impressive 41-13 win over Walsh University.
This was a defensive battle early and it wasn't until past the midway point of the first half when Life punished a Walsh penalty and scored off a lineout-and-maul. Some snappy ball-handling produced another try to make it 20-6, and Life cruised from there to a 41-13 victory.
So, with all of that, Navy is still on top, but who can chase them seems to change every week.
Latest Standings
| Rugby East | W | L | T | PA | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Navy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 33 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Army | 2 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 24 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Mary Washington | 1 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 46 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Life | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 13 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Belmont Abbey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Queens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 19 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Kutztown | 1 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 53 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mount St. Mary's | 1 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 58 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Penn State | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 61 | -29 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Walsh | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 62 | -34 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Southern Virginia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 82 | -61 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Bonaventure | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 41 | -18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
