Moon Township, Pa. - The Baron Ruggers hit the road on Thursday for a night time tilt against their ling-time rival, Robert Morris. It was RMU's homecoming and along with that there was a national presence as the match was livestreamed by ESPN 3. Franciscan knew that they would have their hands full with a RMU team that might be young on experience but without a doubt, would be very motivated and fired up to hand the Barons their first loss of the fall season. With RMU sitting at 1-1, they needed a win to move to 2-1 and stay in the playoff hunt with 3-0 Slippery Rock and 3-0 Franciscan. With a loss, Franciscan would lose their top spot in the ARU East division so a win was important to keep the pace with Slippery Rock.
The Barons started things off with a try by Nick Patryn off a delayed off load from Vincent Prezzia that froze the defenders in their tracks and Patryn ran it in for the game's first try. Prezzia did not make the conversion the score was 5-0 Barons. The score remained the same for about 20 minutes as both teams committed several miscues and turnovers to keep each other off the score board. The Barons flashed at times with long runs but would knock it on and give the ball back to the Colonials. RMU was able to capitalize on a miscommunication by the Baron backline and scored a try to knot up the match at 5, which is where the half ended at, 5-5.
Things started off well for the Colonials as they capitalized on an errant pass by Luke Divvers to the backline. RMU was able to pick it off and take it in for the easy try. RMU had the momentum as the Barons continued to press their playing style and couldn't get unhinged. The kick after was missed and the score was 10-5, RMU with about 35 minutes left in the match. However, the Barons started to buckle down and clean up their mess and proceeded to drive the ball down field. Clay Boyle and JP Leatherby had several crushing runs to advance the ball to the Colonials' side of the field. John Thibault had several long runs to flip field position but the Barons again couldn't punch it in. Thibault ended that, taking a pass from Prezzia, and making a deft move with a dummy pass, looking off RMU's #12 as he dashed through and easily beat the fullback for the equalizing try. Prezzia missed the conversion and the score was tied 10 all. Thibault's try provided the spark the Barons needed and seem to deflate the Colonials a bit as they were playing relentlessly with the defense. Noah Schleuter had himself a nice game as he collected several kicked balls without an error and helped the team to maintain possession. The Barons continued to move the ball across the pitch and gain ground but they still made errors along the way and couldn't get the ball into the try zone despite several opportunities. Prezzia gave the Barons the lead for good with a pick and go and dove for the try. Prezzia made his conversion count as he kicked the ball through the uprights to give the Barons a 17-10 lead. With time winding down, Franciscan was controlling the ball and looking to dot down one more try (and the coveted bonus point that teams get when scoring 4 tries). After a penalty by RMU and an injury to their player, the Barons continued to march down the field, and with little time left, Prezzia once again picked the ball at the breakdown and dove for the bonus try. With the missed conversion, the final score was 22-10, Franciscan.
The match was intense and physical throughout, with neither team giving no quarter, which is expected in a rivalry match. RMU played their best match of the year and it showed as they were punishing with their runs and played a stifling defense. For the Barons, Matt Hennig was rewarded the Golden Man of the Match with his consistent play and running the ball relentlessly. His calm on the pitch has a soothing effect on the young players. He came close to scoring a try but he delivered with several big time tackles. The squad knows that they will be getting every team's best shot every week. They know they need to clean up a few things if they are to win the ARU East Division and the #1 seed that goes to the winner. Franciscan's next match will determine the winner of the ARU East Division, as they travel to nationally ranked #14 Slippery Rock, next Saturday for an epic showdown. It will be Slippery Rock's homecoming as well as Coach Jason Adams third trip to his alma mater since he became Franciscan's head coach before the Fall Season of 2019.
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