Steubenville, Ohio - On a cold, dreary day, the Barons ruggers took to the pitch for a 4PM kickoff against their long-time rival. Franciscan hosted the semifinal match against Robert Morris for chance to move on to the ARU championship match on November 4th. Knowing that RMU would be up to the challenge of knocking off the #6 team in NCR for Small Colleges, as well as ending their season and any championship hopes, the Barons came out controlling the tempo and putting up a tough defensive front.

Kicking off to RMU, the Colonials put together a few powerful phases to assert themselves and let Franciscan know that they came to play. 4 minutes into the match, a scrum for Franciscan led to John Bateman, on a feed from Vincent Prezzia, to make a deft move and freeze the backline, allowing Bateman to run by the defenders as he chipped a well-placed up and over kick over the defender and Andrew Normandin touched it down for the first points of the match. The Barons never looked back. Aidan Gibbons missed the conversion kick, and the score was 5-0. Both teams then went back and forth with possession of the ball for the next 10 minutes as Franciscan continued to play in RMU's end of the field. On a kick and chase, the Barons were able to corral the ball but promptly lost it on an errant pass but were able to get it back after a poach by Jacob Leerkes. After a few phases, Nick Patryn pulled a pick and go and crashed in for the Barons second try of the game. Gibbons split the post with the difficult angled kick and upped the score to 12-0. From that point on, the Barons were in control for most of the 1st half, forcing RMU into mistakes and turnovers. John Paul Leatherby took an offload from Prezzia and dotted the ball down for a try. But somehow, the ref called the try off as being upheld when it was clear that Leatherby touched it down easily. The forwards did well with defensive stops and breaking through the gainlines throughout the half. The backs also contributed with timely tackles and stopped any big plays from happening. Despite not being able to put more points on the board due to some questionable calls, the Barons were only up 12-0 until RMU was able to capitalize on a high tackle call and opted to kick for points. They converted and the score was 12-3 at the end of the first half.

The boys in green and gold knew they were letting RMU hang around too long with their carelessness and combination of dropped balls and unforced errors and were trying to do too much individual play. Franciscan came out in the 2nd half ready to add more points to their total since they would be receiving the kick. They promptly turned the ball over on a blocked kick and RMU was primed to continue the momentum that they slowly gained towards the end of the first half. After a penalty on Franciscan, RMU decided to do a quick tap about 10 meters from the try line, and they passed the ball into the waiting hands of Normandin as he took the ball the other way for a backbreaking 95 meter try to give the Barons a comfortable lead. With Gibbons slotting the conversion, the score was 19-3, Franciscan. The try seemingly ignited the spark that the Barons needed as they started to move the ball with skillful passing and continued to play tough defense, limiting RMU's chances to get close to their end of the field. The forwards continued to grind with hard runs by Leatherby, Leerkes and Luke Hall, and Seth Jillson and Nick Patryn supporting in the rucks. Sebastian Bise continued to be a nuisance to opposing runners with quick tackles and supporting attackers. Ethan Peterson had a few great plays to open the offense as he took passes and turned them from nothing into something. Abe Schmeising asserted himself in the lineouts and stole a couple of balls. After a few back and forth play action between the teams, the Barons were able to win a lineout and string a few phases before Patryn again executed a pick and go and touch the ball down for 5. Gibbons converted the kick and the score was 26-3, Franciscan with about 27 minutes remaining. After the reset kickoff, a RMU player was assessed a yellow card for a high tackle on Peterson, leaving RMU to play 10 minutes a man short. Franciscan was able to capitalize on the penalty as Bateman took a pass from Prezzia and slipped a tackle and took off down the field, offloading to Bise for a try. Gibbons missed the conversion as the score went to 31-3. On the ensuing kickoff, Bateman collected the kick and returned the volley, executing a 50-22 kick, to give the Barons a lineout inside their own 22. The Barons continued to make plays with the backline of Bateman, John Thibault, Normandin, and Gibbons along with Luke Divver and Anthony Chipps, both playing their first game out on the wings, they cycled the ball cleanly to Divver who was unable to punch it in. RMU was able to get a scrum on the knock, but they couldn't get a clearance kick, and dropped the ball in the try zone and Bise pounced on the loose ball for a try. The ref rewarded it, but then the call was reversed for reasons unknown, and a goal line drop was rewarded to RMU. The Barons shrugged it off and kept their cool and ignored the call. RMU then capitalized on a Baron mistake and was able to reversed the field, taking the ball to their half of the pitch. After a knock by RMU, the backline engineered a classic block pass and Thibault took off and was able to draw defenders to him as he offloaded to Gibbons out wide, and Gibbons ran it in for the team's 6th try of the day. Gibbons was unsuccessful on the conversion and the score was 36-3. The Barons continued to move the ball as Prezzia and Bateman played a little give and go with Bateman offloading to Prezzia for the team's last try of the match. Gibbons wasn't able to punch it through and the score was 41-3. With little time remaining, RMU continued to play hard and not give up, running hard lines and moving the ball. They were able to connect on a nice play and looked to score the long try but Gibbons chased down the runner and caused a knock on. However, the Barons gave it right back and with about 3 minutes left, RMU was able to score a try. The missed conversion made the score 41-8 and that's where it stood until the final whistle blew.

Golden Man of the Match went to JP Leatherby for his composure on defense and tough relentless running in the trenches. DAWG of the Match went to Aidan Gibbons for his run-down of a sure try tackle at the end of the match and his constant break away runs. RMU played very well and kept things tight as they usually do and they will continue to improve. For the Barons, it was a total team effort in the victory with scores coming from both the forwards and the backs. The defense once again held firm and only gave up one try and while the attack needs quite a few things to work on, they did well with their spacing and supporting. The Barons will turn the page and look forward to their rematch of last year's ARU Championship against Slippery Rock on November 4th who looks to atone for their loss last year. Franciscan is playing host to the ARU Championship on November 4th for three matches which will consist of the Small College Champions Cup teams (Franciscan and SRU), Small College Challenge Cup (Teams to be determined) and DII teams (Teams to be determined). As more details become official, check the tournament link here

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