STEUBENVILLE - The Franciscan rugby team hosted it 15th Annual Robert D'Anniballe Rugby Ruckus Sunday night and for the second straight year came away with a 26-21 win, this time over 3RRC rival, Robert Morris.
"I was proud of how the team stuck together for all 80 minutes." remarked head coach Dan Kramer. "We still have a lot of kinks to work out, but the team grinded it out and stayed close rather than getting down on each other at difficult moments. Our veteran leadership was what made the difference. They came into halftime knowing what changes needed to be made and were able to get the team on the same page."
The Barons implemented a brand-new playbook on Friday before the match, and while not everything was executed how Coach Kramer would have liked it to be, the Barons were able to adapt and pull off the new plays.
"There were several moments where the players' frustration was obvious," remarked Coach Kramer. "They were all trying to implement the new plays differently instead of as one unit. That issue is completely on me as the coach. Now we have two weeks to practice it before our next conference match. In addition to that, we need to work on our set pieces as we lost too many lineouts."
Rafe Lewis had some great misdirection and line break and was able to score for the Barons while Luke McGann used a phenomenal draw and pass from senior Josh Leatherby for his score. David Prezzia and Matthew Hostutler all scored for the Barons as well and Hostutler converted three of his four conversion kicks - a record conversion percentage for the right footer.
Josh Leatherby was the Man of the Match. He stepped up as on the field captain when PJ Ernst went out with an injury at halftime. Josh commanded the forward pack and he kept the whole team calm throughout the second half. He had a few great plays as well as two of his runs setup scores.
Simon Sullivan played well in his first start and was reliable for the Barons on defense.
"RMU is a great team and I hope to be playing them again later in the season," continued Coach Kramer. "A huge thanks to all of our sponsors and everyone who came out to the match."
The Barons return to action on Friday, September 28 when they travel to Geneva at 7:30 pm.
