Wednesday night's match up between St. Thomas and Katy was a very important match to both teams who were fighting for the rugby playoff seeding. With Austin only leading St. Thomas by three points in the overall standings, a victory for the Eagles would give them the number one seed in the south division.

In a very physical first half, Katy dominated St. Thomas in every aspect of the game. Katy was winning scrums, lineouts, possession, and most importantly the battle of the scoreboard. Katy scored two tries in the first ten minutes and converted on both goals to give Katy a 14-0 advantage.

With just over ten minutes remaining in the first half, St. Thomas was able to make their way on to the scoreboard sailing a goal kick through the uprights for three points. The score would remain 14-3 heading into halftime.

“We really struggled with penalties in the first half,” explained St. Thomas’ Jacob Martin. “We kept trying to tackle them high and it was really hurting us.”

Halftime adjustments worked well in favor of St. Thomas who came out and scored two tries in the first five minutes of the second half. Conner Mills, who scored the first try, converted a one-point goal kick, as did Chris Ferrante who scored the Eagles second try of the half. This gave St. Thomas a 15-14 lead with 30 minutes remaining.

With so much riding on the game, both teams really stepped up their play and intensity. More than 20 minutes went by before St. Thomas’ Patrick Gutkowski would finally score another try. The goal kick failed but St. Thomas was still in command with a 20-14 lead with less than 10 minutes left to play. Although the Katy offense had a few valiant efforts down the stretch, the Eagles were able to keep them out of the In-goal to hang on and win 20-14.

“We did a lot better job tackling and we won more of the scrums in the second half,” said Martin.

The victory earned St. Thomas the number one seed from the South division and knocked Katy out of postseason contention.

'Reel Action' for this game is purchaseable on DVD for $15. Contact the Athletes Connection at 713-339-4400 or send emails to lsinclair@athletesconnection.com to reserve your copy.

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