Steubenville, Ohio - After what seems like eons, the Franciscan Barons ruggers were finally back in their familiar place-on the rugby pitch. Having two weekends wiped out due to Covid-19 issues, and another scheduled bye week, the Barons hadn't stepped foot on the pitch for a match since the lost to Wheeling on September 4th. Losing starting prop Clay Boyle to a torn ACL right before the season was a huge blow to the squad, they had to also deal with losing starting hooker Anthony Chipps to a thumb injury earlier this week as well as losing starting fullback Kian McCormack to a broken clavicle last week. Despite the injuries, the young lads of Franciscan were able to step up and deliver a glorious victory over previous unbeaten John Carroll University, another newcomer to the ARU Collegiate Conference, on Homecoming weekend.

Unveiling new kits (shorts, jersey top and socks), the gents started things off quickly, with newcomer Peter Thibault setting the tone with his hard running and advancing the ball. The Barons scored their first try of the match 5 minutes into the start with a darting try by the crafty senior Brendan Pedulla on an offload from flyhalf Rafe Lewis. Lucas Cayer teed up the conversion to make it 7-0. The Barons continued to play fast, although a bit too loose, committing several knock-ons (dropping the ball forward) and not maintaining depth in the running lines. After an injury-sub for Peter Thibault, who left disappointedly after getting his ankle rolled by an opponent player, they team regrouped and focused on their play. They stayed poised and did not let it affect them as Rafe Lewis quick-tapped the ball after a JCU penalty and deftly scampered through the JCU defense for the second try. Aidan Gibbons dropped kick the point after to make it 14-0. The Barons continued to dominate ball possession but often gave away missed opportunities to tally more points on the board, which can be expected after a long lay off between matches. JCU were able to capitalize on a mental mistake by the Barons, when the Barons passed up on an exit kick to try to run out of their own end, which ended up with the ball on the ground and the JCU's flyhalf kicking and chasing it into their try zone for an easy 5 points. They converted the kick to halve the Barons' lead by 7. Halftime commenced with the score 14-7.

At halftime, the Barons celebrated the retirement of rugby chaplain Father Brian Cavanaugh T.O.R., with words from Coach Adams, CEO of NCR and founder of Franciscan Rugby, as well as FUS Sports Hall of Famer, Jeremy Treece, and 2019 NSCRO All-American PJ Ernst. Father Brian was presented with a framed Franciscan jersey from their 2019 NSCRO Final 4 season. Thank you Father Brian for all of your encouragement and dedication to the players that came through the vaunted Franciscan Rugby program!

The second half started as both teams squandered a few chances at scoring tries. The Baron ruggers were able to collect themselves and started to offload better and get the ball out to their backs. After a few back and forth ball possessions by both teams, the Barons won a scrum inside their 22 and Vinnie Prezzia quickly offloaded to flayhalf Lewis who led John Thibault with the pass and Thibault was able to draw a defender to him before off loading to Pedulla, who bullied his way through 4 JCU defenders for his 2nd try of the match, pushing the score to 19-7 with Cayer nearly missing the point after from a difficult angle. The Barons defense held firm as JCU had an opportunity to close the score when they were close to the 5m line to push in a try. Rafe Lewis shut the door on that as he intercepted a pass and raced the full length of the pitch to dot down the ball and extend the lead to 17 and ending JCU momentum. The conversion was nearly missed by Gibbons. The Barons continued to buckle down defensively and kept JCU from scoring any more points, shutting them out in the 2nd half. The Barons weren't done yet scoring, as sophomore John Thibault put the finishing touch on the match, corralling a pass from Lewis and outracing several JCU defenders, stiff-arming the final defender as he galloped for the final try of the match. Senior Mark Houle nailed the conversion for the final score of 31-7.

JCU was a great opponent and played very well in the different phases of the match. Several players stepped up today and got valuable game experience. Matt Hennig continues to display toughness and grit, leading the charge of the forwards. Craig Shepardson had a massive open field tackle that energize the sidelines. Junior David Williams and sophomore Paul Gantz had several punishing runs and helped stabilized the pack. Freshman Liam Phelan was named "Gold"en Man of the match with this tenacious defense and attacking game. If you see anyone wearing a Gold jersey on campus, tell him great job!

The Barons will hit the road for the first of their four consecutive road matches to end the season. They will face the always tough Cal U of PA on Saturday at 2:00pm