BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - The Franciscan rugby team defeated Three Rivers Rugby Conference opponent, Geneva, 38-3 to remain perfect in the 3RRC and on the season, Friday evening.
"It is always a lot of fun to play Geneva," remarked head coach Dan Kramer. "They were missing some of their starters due to injury and I hope we get to play them at full strength."
Despite playing nearly all of the first 20 minutes of the game inside their half, the Baron defense was able to hold strong and keep the Golden Tornadoes off of the board. Kramer was happy with how his defense played but noted that the Barons conceded far too many penalties and made some poor decisions when they had the ball.
"As we move deeper into the season, we cannot wait until 20 minutes in to switch on and play our style of rugby," remarked Coach Kramer.
Junior captain PJ Ernst got the scoring going about 23 minutes into the match as he scored a breakaway try on the left side of the field after about a 40-meter run. 10 minutes later, the Barons had a great sequence of passing to free up senior Matthew Hostutler. It looked like Matt was on his way to score in the corner, but Geneva was called for a high tackle and Franciscan was award a penalty try.
Forward pack leader Josh Leatherby scored two tries in the second half. His first was through shear strength as he broke several tackles on his way to touching the ball down. The second try was an impressive line break where he found a gap and only had to be the last defender. Leatherby also setup James Schmiesing for his first try. Schmiesing stepped up for the team tonight in his first start.
"James is learning the game quickly and is always giving the team 100%," said Coach Kramer. "We can't ask for more than that from our rookies."
Jacob Borden scored midway through the second half on a weak side pick.
Simon Sullivan was the Man of the Match. "He is a brick wall on defense and the team rallies around his tenacity in tackles and rucks," commented Coach Kramer. "I am really pleased with how he is picking up the game."
The Barons look to wrap up another perfect regular season next Saturday as they travel to Carnegie Mellon for their final 3RRC regular season match up.
