Game Summary: Here we go.... RMU arrived at Franciscan with 22 players. Chris Biel and Sam Montgomery where both available after being out weeks with bad shoulders. In the first half Franciscan went up after 20 minutes 5-0. Both teams where playing for field position. Our kicking game and back 3 had been missing for most of the season. They have had a tough time fielding kicks and counter attacking. Since the first meeting with Franciscan, we have been working on support, counter kicks and a full line movement with the back 3. Well, it all came together for these guys today. (Caleb #11, Isaac #15 Asa #14 2-freshmen & a sophomore) They cleanly fielded just about every kick and ran it up HARD into the forwards or kicked to our advantage. The support from our back row (#6 TJ, #8 Dan #7 Stew) was tremendous. Andrew Stewart was everywhere! This along with our defense in the centers (Mike#12 Jeremy#13) were the key factors in our improved game yesterday. Each team continued to battle for field position and the tackling and rucking was phenomenal by both teams. RMU got a nice back line movement and Caleb showed his speed as he outraced his opposite to the try line. RMU goes up 7-5. Dan #8 made the conversion. RMU was again dominant in line outs. Jesse#4 was bringing down ours and Franciscan ball. It was evident from the opening kick-off that Franciscan was going to target Danny#9 all day long. Every chance they were trying to hit him. Franciscan was getting pressure from the back of the line out. RMU changed tactics and started to drive, or bring the ball down to stop this pressure on Danny. This worked the rest of he game. The line-out drive is another thing we have worked on all season but not used very often in the games because it was never needed. Today it was, and was a huge factor. Our scrums could have been better, it was the only weak spot in the forwards game. The first half had a light rain and traction was tough. One thing about college kids is none of the tight 5 had long spikes, most have 1 set of molded cleats and it showed in the scrum. We slid backwards several times. As the rain stopped and sun came out a bit, it did dry up some and the scrum got better but was never a consistent advantage for us. Franciscan was the only team all year to stop us in the scrum. Dan, TJ and Stew still had some decent movements off the scrum, just not enough today. Our tight 5 of (Sam#1, Justin Fuss #2 Jordan#3 Andrew#5 Jesse#4) rucked and tackled all day long. Justin was money when it came to tackling today. Going low and not missing one all day long! The game would go back and forth for the next 15 -20 minutes. Franciscan would eventually grind out a try and go up just before the half 12-7. With the team playing great no subs where made at half. The 2nd half opening kick off saw us kick deep and apply pressure to them. With outstanding defense we eventually forced a turnover. With a penalty against Franciscan we would choose to kick and take a line-out. We drove and mauled off this line out to score a try in the corner. It is was text book rugby! The score is now 12-12. We made a substitution in the front row (Shawn J for Jordan) for fresh legs after this score. Another bright point was the tackling by the backs, very few missed tackles today. Early in the 2nd half Franciscan has an overload and a big forward found himself in a 2 on 1 against Caleb, and decides to try and run over him, to his dismay Caleb dropped him and proceeded to contest for the ball, stopping what should have been a sure try had the Franciscan player executed his pass. Franciscan eventually had the ball inside our 22 and did grind out another try to go up 17-12. RMU would answer back quickly with a deep kick for field position, then some outstanding pressure to again create a turnover. After series of forward and back movements we scored again to make it 17-17 with about 20 minutes left in the game. Our center Mike, (Freshmen), got his first start in the 1st meeting with Franciscan. He had a major leg cramp and had to come out. I moved Stew to center and Monty came in at #7. Mike was a huge reason we played them tougher this game. His defense got him pulled in the first game at half. Today it was awesome. He ran hard and straight. Mike has become a tremendous rucking center. As good, if not better than any forward. Both teams spent the final 15 minutes trying to kick into the others half. Sometimes we had 3-4 counter kicks, well Issac, after a series of kicks, counters on the run with Stew and Asa, a deep movement into Franciscan territory has RMU running a series of bangers. With 8 minutes or so showing on the game clock we are now inside the 22 with a line-out coming up. Everyone at the games knows what is coming next. We proceed to secure and drive it all the way to within 5 meters of the try line. it stalls so #8 Dan peels off and is stymied inches from the try line. Lots of rucking another banger or 2 gets tied up. We had several good chances to punch it in but could not get it done. Eventually RMU gets an off sides penalty and Franciscan kicks to safety. That was our chance.. The ref awards a scrum around midfield to Franciscan and they win it, then proceed to grind there way into our half. A high tackle against RMU is called. Franciscan runs off this penalty, they have a series of movements. After 3 or 4 rucks, the ref called coming from the side against RMU. The spot is dead center in front of the posts... They make it with no time on the game clock that is on the field. (Franciscan has a scoreboard on the field, the ref has the official time) The ref played another kick off, a series of movements by Franciscan, 1 more scrum and the game was over....I wish it would have ended with a try one way or the other... A long post cant describe how this team laid it on the line..They gave a Championship EFFORT in the Championship Game. Extremely proud to have coached this game yesterday. To see how much the team improved each and every game. They bought into what Danny and I have been teaching all year. This makes the effort of coaching 22 practices and 9 games worth every minute. I want the thank the parents and girlfriends who showed for all the games this year. Great to have fan support! Good Christmas gifts would be Scum Caps and Shoulder Pads for the guys!!! Reducing injuries and wear and tear in the future is key. We had 2 shoulders and 1 concussion. Franciscan is a varsity program that practices every day and has conditioning/weight room hours on top of practice. They also have about 6 coaches, a full time Director of Rugby employed by the University. The road to the DIII Sweet 16 goes through Steubenville. If we want to compete year in and year out we will have to raise our standards across the board. Coaching, player commitment, alumni support and school funding. By next fall we will lose 2 props and all three 2nd rows. We have to recruit some size for the spring season so they can be ready by the fall 2014. The spring season needs to be a season with quality games so we can improve. we need to play tougher opponents. This team will return 11 starters for next fall, with some quality reserves coming up. It cant be a season where guys take it off. Hopefully we can travel to a good tournament outside our area of Western PA. I am targeting the Cherry Blossom in DC, or something West, Columbus or Indianapolis. I would like to take the team in vans and get hotels for an overnight tournament sometime in April. This has never been done in my 4 years as head coach or the 2 years I helped Todd. The kids will hold a fundraiser. We will sell raffle tickets to fund this trip and to also get the 2nd set of jerseys that we need. Alumni support would be great with this fundraiser. Year end team meeting is on Tuesday November 19th. Alumni are welcome to attend. Time and place to be determined. Thanks Coach Crago
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 15:44:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015