STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Baron rugby started slow against Geneva College but once they got rolling were impossible to stop, beating their conference foe 68-14. The Baron's teamwork and organization outmatched Geneva once the team absorbed their opening salvo.

"It was a slow start. We took a couple of hits and conceded a couple of points, but then all the sudden the light bulb went on," Head Coach Chris Courtnell said. "Then we started playing Franciscan rugby and it was great to watch."

The first couple scores put Franciscan down 7-0 but the Barons quickly responded with a try to take the lead. Clayton Lang and Mark Allen combined to take the ensuing kick-off all the way down the field for a try. Geneva never recovered.

"Everybody came together as one unit, turning the tide, and turning the game our tempo," Courtnell said. "We got caught trying to play route one rugby, trying to play it up the middle but once we shipped it out wide we were able to beat them on the fringes."

The Baron ruggers made long run, after long run down the wings with scores coming from a slew of different players including Man of the Match, freshman Paul Deschler.

Courtnell said that the freshman flanker was one of the few Baron plays tackling and playing well from the starting whistle. Deschler was one of a handful of players playing major roles for the Barons from the very beginning of the match.

"We had a lot of injuries coming in from the Ruckus so we had a lot of new guys stepping up," Courtnell said. "All the new guys coming in played out of their skins."

Geneva also struggled to stop the daunting runs from Franciscan's deadly duo of center Isaac Archibeque and Jeff Baldwin. The two players' combination of strength, speed, and agility proved difficult to stop with both finding the try zone multiple times.

The running of Archibeque and Baldwin was set up by some creative passing from fly-half Sebastian de Luxemburg, scrum-half Anthony Tatasciore, and wing Clayton Lang all of whom helped Franciscan rectify some sloppy ball handling from their previous game.

"We took the positives from the Ruckus and we worked on the negatives and built on that. Now we'll do the same for this match heading into the Grove City game," Courtnell.

The Barons will continue conference play with a road game against Grove City College on September 12 at 8 pm.