Midwest Championship Weekend Summary
Midwest Championship Weekend Summary
11/9/2003 - Fred Beekman Park - Columbus, OH
OSU A vs. Purdue A
11/8/03
Fred Beekman Park
The 3x Ohio State Midwest Rugby champions suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of a talented Purdue team. Ohio State struck first with the aid of junior flanker Trevor Fisher intercepting a Purdue ball that was stuck in the high wind. Fisher snatched the ball at the Purdue 22 meter mark and ran it in to put OSU up 5-0 with only 1 minute elapsed. At 12 minutes, Purdue retaliated with the powerful running of their #4 lock, and tied the game 5-5. 19 minutes later OSU captain and flyhalf Ben Casey dodged through Purdue defense and gave the Buckeyes a 10-5 lead. At this time OSU had the terrible loss of star center Jason Shelley. During a try saving tackle that pushed a Purdue player into touch, Jason suffered a separated clavicle. Purdue swiftly came back and tied the game at 10-10. With 2 minutes to go, the Buckeyes stormed down the field deep into Purdue territory and established an offensive line at the Purdue try zone. Flanker Trevor Fisher was able to penetrate the Boilermaker defense and gave Ohio an uneasy 15-10 half time lead. Purdue opened the second half quickly with 2 tries within 7 minutes to give them a 20-15 lead. Purdue increased their lead 4 minutes later with a successful penalty kick to make it 23-15. However the Buckeyes did not back down and kept the pressure on causing Purdue to concede a penalty. Senior wing Andrew Kender kicked for points and put OSU closer with an 18-23 score with 22 minutes to go. OSU hooker Kevin Peterson refused to give up and was able to break the Purdue defense to put the Buckeyes ahead 25-23 with the successful conversion from Kender. However, the Buckeyes efforts were not enough as Purdue capitalized on poor tackling and was able to score 2 more tries in the remaining time to give a final score of OSU 25 Purdue 35.
1. Malloy 2. Peterson 3. Little 4. Hughes 5. Huffman (Bubenik @ 57) 6. Ebersole 7. Fisher 8. Legros 9. Albright 10. Casey 11. Allen 12. Nightingale 13. Shelley (Benner @ 33) 14. Kender 15. Hamilton (Moller @ 58)
Tries: Fisher (2), Casey (1), Peterson (1)
Conversions: Kender (1)
Pens: Kender (1)
OSU A vs. Wisconsin Stout A
11/9/03
Fred Beekman Park
The Buckeyes with a new sense of purpose after a disappointing loss the day before stormed into the game against Wisconsin-Stout knowing that their bid for the national Sweet 16 tournament was on the line. Ohio State struck early with the aid of a crippling run by junior 8-man Jake Legros. Jake fought his way through a line of Stout defenders to put OSU up 7-0 with a conversion from senior Brad Allen. 14 minutes later captain Ben Casey sidestepped a Stout player and sprinted his way into the try zone to put OSU in the lead 14-0. Stout quickly adjusted its’ defense tactics and held the Buckeyes for the rest of the half. Half time score OSU 14 Stout 0. 3 minutes into the second half OSU stormed onto the Stout try line. With a defensive line spread across the try zone Stout held OSU at bay until senior prop Conor Malloy barged his way into the try zone to give OSU a 19-0 lead. Stout responded quickly with a converted try to bring the score to 19-7. OSU retaliated with the aid of scrumhalf Nick Benner who ran down the touchline to bring put the Buckeyes ahead 24-7. In the final minutes of the game Jake Legros pounded the ball into the Stout defense at their try zone where Stout conceded a penalty try to seal the game. Final score OSU 31 Stout 7.
1. Malloy 2. Peterson ( Mezera @ 45, Clark @ 76) 3. Little 4. Hughes 5. Huffman (Bubenik @ 22) 6. Adler (Bleakmore @ 65) 7. Fisher ( Ebersole @ 65) 8. Legros 9. Benner 10. Casey (Albright @ 34) 11. Allen (Hartman @ 36) 12. Nightingale 13. Moller 14. Bell 15. Kender
Tries: Legros (2), Casey (1), Malloy (1), Benner (1)
Conv: Allen (3)
OSU B/C vs. Moritz College of Law A
11/7/03
Fred Beekman Park
Friday night saw a mixed B/C side go against The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law rugby team. The Buckeyes were determined not to lose to their on campus rival and throughout the night relied on their athleticism and superior conditioning to defeat Moritz. After a big opening kickoff return from OSU captain and flanker Kevin Wensink, it seemed OSU would score early, however the Law School defenses held steady and prevented OSU from crossing the try line. Moritz was able to strike first with the aid of its’ fast and skillful 8-man and center, with 22 minutes to go in the 1st half Moritz was up 5-0. Determined to end the half on a high note sophomore wing Elliot Couch flew down the pitch to tie the game. Fired up after this OSU came at their opponents with a new sense of purpose. Flyhalf Adam Taylor of the UK spun the ball out to inside center Eric Schulte who passed the ball back to Taylor off a loop play. Taylor ran into the corner of the try zone with a Moritz defender clinging to him to give OSU the halftime lead of 10-5. The second half found OSU dominating all aspects of play. Elliot Couch scored once again to put OSU in the lead 17-5. Immediately after the kickoff the Buckeyes brought the ball into the Moritz 22 where pounding offense had Moritz concede a penalty. Junior scrumhalf Lee Koontz immediately cut across the field off a quick tap and passed the ball to Kevin Wensink who crossed the touch line to put OSU up 22-5. 9 minutes later sophomore 8-man Kirk Norris used strength to keep the ball alive while being held up by 3 defenders on the Moritz try line. Kirk managed to pass the ball to support Kevin Wensink who ran across the try line to put OSU even further ahead 29-5 with the conversion from senior wing Kevin McClellan. Determined to seal the victory, sophomore center Eric Johnson faked a pass and penetrated with pace past 2 Moritz defenders to end the game with a 36-5 win.
OSU C vs. Denison A
11/7/03
King and Cannon Intramural Fields
The second game of the night saw the OSU C’s go against Denison University. Freshman Chuck Violand made his try debut for OSU by racing down the touch to put OSU ahead 5-0 ten minutes into the first half. Violand scored again off a pass from junior center Ed Herderick who throughout the night did a tremendous job poaching balls off of Denison. A successful penalty kick from freshmen Dean Panik put the Buckeyes ahead 13-10 at the half. Although the Buckeyes played well for the remainder of the game, it was the experience of the veteran Denison side that was able to capitalize off of mistakes and ultimately gave Denison the victory of 24-13. Exceptional games were had by center James Rush whose quick runs through the Denison defense set up 2 tries for the Buckeyes and fullback Dave Haggerty whose returns off Denison kicks and excellent defense throughout the night contributed to many tries stopped by OSU.