Xavier Impresses in Win over St. Edward in the Wind
Xavier Impresses in Win over St. Edward in the Wind
The Eagles of St. Edward High School in Cleveland never truly got off the ground in a match that saw Xavier of New York control mch of the run of play for the first half Saturday.
Xavier won 29-10 on a breezy day in New York.
“The wind was whipping and the elements were unforgiving,” said Xavier’s back’s coach Eamonn Matthews, who noted that St. Edward’s used the wind to put in a good amount of kicks. This got the ball behind Xavier’s defensive bosses, forcing the Knights into tough positions, but the Xavier attack carried the team through.
“We played a very smart game, picking and choosing when we wanted to attack direct, and when we wanted to try to get the ball wide,” Matthews added.
Head coach Greg Norris said that Xavier’s defensive pressure on St. Ed’s was key to the game, as the Knights were adept at turning that defense into attacks, which allowed the Knights to take opportunities when they came. “St Ed's side tested us well by putting the ball behind us and forcing us to reassess how we counter attacked,” Norris said. “They are a very physical team and given better weather conditions their strong runners would have been an issue for our defense.”
By Mike LiVigni
The result was two tries in quick fashion, one at the 14-minute mark by senior flanker Frank Ancona, and the second at the 19-minute mark by junior flyhalf James Allison. The third try for the Knights in the first half was by senior fullback, Edward Marquzez-Miles who also kicked for two good conversions. Leaving the score 19-0 at the 35 minute mark in favor of the Knights.
“The first half was really good,” said senior center and captain Max Wyckoff. “We played smart,” Wyckoff said, adding that the strategy was to punch the ball through the St. Ed’s defense and then go wide. According to Wyckoff, the key to the team’s success in the first half was good layered attacks and sticking with the plan to get the ball wide off of scrums.
Norris noted that key on defense were junior lock Gianny Jeudy and, junior No. 8 Rob Milacci.
“Jeudy had some really good tackling. It was in their face pressure. Rob did great with solid, go-forward ball handling," said the Xavier coach.
In the second half, Xavier added two more tries, the first 14 minutes into the second period when senior scrumhalf William Scariano went over. Marquz-Miles punched in his second try and third conversion at the 64-minute mark, earning him, Man of the Match honors. But the Eagles were not done for the day. St. Ed’s had two successive scores with two minutes left in the match, wiping out Xavier’s shutout.
Despite the win, the Knights still have work to do. “The boys will be the first ones to say they didn’t play a complete game,” said Matthews. “We need to continue improving and playing complete games, not just have chunks of really good rugby.”
According to Wyckoff, “When the finishers come in, we need to make sure that they know it's not the end of the game and that they are coming in to score and defend our tri-zone.” Senior tight-head prop Christopher Lobo agreed. “ We need to be a full game team. We need to play every minute of the game.”
It was a full day of rugby for the rest of the Xavier rugby program with the varsity second side defeating a growing program in St. Anthony’s High School by a score of 47-31 as the Knights overcame a 7-24 deficit at halftime
The Junior Varsity first side lost to St. Edward 36-5, while the Junior Varsity 2nds beat St. Anthony’s 43-10.
