Collegiate & Men's Division 

High School

Austin vs. Jesuit, St. Thomas vs. Bixby, and Alliance vs. Woodlands

Fort Worth, Texas These six teams each set foot upon field two of Gateway Park for the Western Rugby Union Championships Saturday in hopes of returning Sunday for the finals in the Championship bracket. The teams who find victory on the pitch tomorrow are eligible for the National competion in Salt Lake City, Utah mid-May. The defeated players will return home to hang up their cleats for the season and possibly for some of the seniors, forever. However, most rugby players seem to be players for life!

Game 1: Austin vs. Jesuit Rangers

Two evenly matched teams met in the heat today in Fort Worth, Texas for the Western Rugby Union Championships. Fans squinted through the sunlight as water boys kept on their toes, quickly responding to parched cries for “water.” Hot it was, but the boys played on.

Cameron Nichols, from Austin, jump started the game by scoring early. His end zone run and score on try put Austin quickly on the board. The extra point attempt by Jacob Wiley, also from Austin, was not as successful as his try.

As Jesuit pressed to try and score before the half, Austin held strong defensively for over twenty minutes before they moved the ball out of the red zone and moved into position to score again.

An especially exciting moment came when, out of nowhere, Austin’s William Sayers, leapt into the air and blocked a kick that placed Jesuit in scoring range. Jesuit displayed much fluidity with their effective passes, until Jesuit’s Tucker Shaw took the ball in to score the first try for his team. As the score turned, the half ended with a tie: 5 to 5.

As the second half took full swing, the Jesuit Rangers proceeded to put more points on the board. Jesuit’s Travis Breihan, took the ball into his own hands and scored the first try of the second half. For most of the time remaining, the ball moved back and forth between the equally matched teams. With time counting down, Jesuit’s Philip Roath ran into the end zone and scored the last try to seal the game.

The final score of the Austin vs. Jesuit Rangers was Austin 5, Jesuit 19.

Game 2: St. Thomas vs. Bixby

Cries of “victory” from St. Thomas and cheers of “Roofio,” from Bixby, sliced through Saturday morning’s heat as the two teams prepared for their semi-final game.

On Bixby’s team, Josh Cogper had a couple good kicks while teammate Tyler Neatas displayed notable speed, as well as the ability to maneuver around, and take down, St. Thomas defenders. More of Bixby’s speed was found in Nick Bunch, who had a couple of good runs, one bringing his team encouragingly close to the end zone.

Conor Mills’ name was shouted often by St. Thomas fans after his helpful kicks, especially for the extra points he scored with them. Speed on St. Thomas’ side could be found in Christian Hernandez, Chris Ferrante, and Micheal Thompson, whose breaks and passes were also note-worthy.

Among the scorers on St. Thomas’ side were Byron Henry, Patrick Gutkowski, Austin Hawks, Clayton Tauber, and Micheal Romeno.

Bixby’s game centered on defense, as they rarely held the ball, and one of St. Thomas’ strengths was definitely their ability to read each others cuts and pass effectively. The final score for this game was St. Thomas, 48, Bixby, 0.

Game 3: Woodlands vs. Alliance

As surely as Alliance wished to paint the whole field black, the Woodlands’ hulk green refused to grant an undeserved victory in the fight for tomorrow’s championship rounds.

One of the definite highlight-moments for the Woodland’s team was when Derek De Pasquale kicked a field goal from midline and scored. Mitchell Early of the Woodlands executed solid passes throughout the game, and Nate Mentzer had a couple hot runs.

Though he sustained an injury later in the game, Tim Buckman lived up to a hastily dubbed nickname heard once in the stands: “tank.” The team depended often on Jawhson’s strength and stature for this strong man to push yards whenever Alliance’s defense was playing tight and hard, which was often. He made some great hits and one helpful tackle in particular.

Speed on the Alliance team was spied in Eric Erwin, whose rapidity was also coupled with tactful maneuvering. James Ritenour had a couple smart breaks and good runs which he utilized in one jaw-dropping play executed with the aid of Trey Cobble. The duo kicked, ran, and passed the ball almost the whole length of the field, bringing their team positively close to the end zone.

Brad Klasterman of Alliance didn’t only display speed, but also heart, as his lungs could be heard from the sidelines, puffing down to be the first to meet his offender.

Among the scorers for Alliance were Matt Jefferson and Ritenour, a center.

Alliance was ahead at half time, 7 to 6, and only picked up momentum in the end of a game well-played and concluding with a score of 17 to 6, Alliance.

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