The Barons ruggers capped off a long and much traveled weekend with a disappointing let down in the ARU Championship game on Sunday November 7th. Franciscan entered the weekend needing to win 2 matches in order to move on to the regionals in St. Louis November 19th weekend.
On Saturday, November 6th, the Baron ruggers took a 2-hour trip to IUP to face off against their rival Robert Morris for the chance to play in the ARU Championship match and to also grab at least a play-in qualifier seed to advance to Sweet 16 Regionals in St. Louis. The match started off well for the Barons as they kept control of possession and expertly worked the ball to their forwards. The strategy worked as Luke Hall cleanly picked the ball from the breakdown and punched in the match's first try and Aidan Gibbons drop-kicked the ball for a successful conversion. Up 7-0, the Barons did well to retain possession of the oval ball but as has been the common theme this season, they lost it at a bad time. RMU was able to dot one down and get the successful point after. With the game tied at 7-7, Vincent Prezzia put the Barons ahead on a deft, dummy pass to jaunt it in for 5. The missed conversion kept the score at 12-7 in the first half. Franciscan wasn't done yet as John Thibault took an offload 50 meters up the middle of the pitch, galloping through a few tacklers and steamrolling the fullback in the process to tally a try that left the spectators with their jaws dropped. The conversion afterwards was good and the score was 19-7. However, the lead was not safe as Robert Morris battled back and knotted up the score at 19 with a few tries of their own when the whistle sounded for the end of the 1st half. The second half had more excitement with less scoring as both teams traded tries and possessions. RMU were able to put up the first score of the 2nd half and the resulting made point after pushed them into their first lead of the day at 26-19. Franciscan would not be down for long as John Thibault executed an up and under kick that he successfully corralled after the defender misread it and he went untouched for the 35 meter try. Unfortunately, the ever important points after was not made and the Barons were now still down 26-24. The score remained that way until the Barons made quick work of ball movement from the forwards to the backs until it settled into winger Craig Shepardson's hands, where he dashed down the sidelines and dove in for what would become the game winning try. The point after was again unsuccessful, a common problem that the team needs to work on), bringing the score to 29-26 Franciscan. Robert Morris had a few more chances to get the lead back but were not able to capitalize on errors by the Barons as well as turning it over a few times themselves. With time running out, Franciscan again moved the ball out wide and with an inside pass from Rafe Lewis into Thibault's hands, his typical galloping 50-yard try was the final nail in the coffin for RMU. However, the assistant referee on the sidelines conferred with the field ref and let him know that the pass was forward. The try was nullified and RMU was given new life. With little time remaining, they were unable to get that 5 point try to get the victory. The Barons held on with great defense in their own territory to end the match. John Thibault was named "Gold"en Man of the Match for his second time of the year.
Franciscan headed back to Steubenville to rest up and with the clocks moving backwards, having to get up early Sunday morning for 8am mass and cramming back into vans to travel 3.5 hours to Rio Grande University, their work was cut out for them. Rio Grande beat Slippery Rock University on Saturday to advance to Sunday's ARU Championship game hosted by Rio Grande. After the introductions and national anthem was over, both teams locked horns to see who would reign as the winners of the inaugural Allegheny College Conference champs.
Rio had already defeated Franciscan at home last month to finish first in league standings and due to difficulties from the ARU to find a neutral venue, Rio was awarded the opportunity to host the playoff weekend. Both teams came out slightly sluggish which was to be expected after both teams played the day before but the Barons continued to move the ball down the field. Rio's defense did not break and continued to hit and play hard and physical. Both teams kept the pressure on each other but Rio was first to break through and score a try and make the conversion. They led 7-0 after 12 minutes in the match had gone by. The Barons, however, were able to capitalize on several Rio penalties to send a pass out wide to newcomer winger, Michael Hardy, and he made a few moves and then did a superman dive into the try zone to bring the score to 7-5. Mark Houle was not able to convert the difficult kick. 5 minutes later, the Barons were again on the attack and Rafe Lewis scooted past a few defenders to dot it down and give the Barons its first lead of the match. Aidan Gibbons made the conversion after to push their lead to five, with the score 12-7 in favor of the Barons. Once again, both teams moved the ball against one another, stopped each other from advancing and played good physical rugby. However, the Redstorm was able to score 2 tries before the break-pushing their lead to 19-12. Once the 2nd half began, Rio was able to convert a penalty kick to give them a 22-12 lead 5 minutes into the half. Rio again scored a try and conversion as they upped the advantage by 17 to 29-12. The Barons though, proved that they wouldn't just lie down and let the game get away from them. With time bleeding out, John Thibault once again jumped started the team with a try to bring the score to 29-17 with the missed conversion. They continued to put pressure on Rio and seemed to be gaining momentum in the last 10 minutes of the match. Franciscan did eventually give up a try to put themselves into a deeper hole. With the score 34-17 and about 3 minutes left, John Thibault collected an errant pass by Rio, and ran his patented 50 meter try, outpacing several of Rio's defenders and evading a last second attempt that nearly knocked him out of bounds but he kept his feet in and score. Gibbons' conversion put Franciscan down 10 points. However, they felt that they would still be able to score quickly and try to win the game in the last dying minutes. They again moved the ball down the field, looking for an opportunity to break the line and score quickly but it never opened up. The final whistle blew and the Barons suffered their 2nd defeat to Rio Grande. Aidan Gibbons was named the "Gold"en Man of the Match for his efforts in tackling, passing and setting up the backlines.
Franciscan's ruggers all played tough and kept their spirits high throughout the match. There isn't enough writing space to talk about the individual players that gutted out 2 straight tough matches. Brendan Pedulla had a number of big tough runs in both matches to set the tone. Luke Hall stabilized the forwards with his heady play and running crashes. Anthony Chipps has shown great promise as a forward flanker and learning his roles. Paul Gantz does nothing but catch the ball and runs it into contact as well as play good defense. Tim Rankin and Matt Hennig kept the scrums intact and had hard runs to setup the next phases. Ryan Nelson had a few nifty catches and runs and supported the breakdowns. David Williams continues to play the role of the unheralded, overlooked star as he made numerous tackles, cleanouts and tough runs. Many new players were able to get some playing time over the weekend. Dru Teague, a recent newcomer to the team, had some hard runs and is clearly still learning the game. Mike Hardy and Craig Shepardson played their wing position effectively. Rafe Lewis and John Thibault continue to set the standard of the backline and create scoring opportunities for themselves and their back field mates. The team truly epitomizes what it means to be a Baron Rugger. They will make the trek to Elkhart, Indiana this Friday to play the University of Minnesota-Moorhead at 2:15 on Saturday in a play-in qualifier to gain the Great Lakes #2 seed for Regionals November 20th.
