All the News and Events
2010- Week 1 "Wrap Up"
9/6/2010
Week 1-
What a busy week for the boys! Tuesday our 7-9th grade team faced off against a Gonzaga Freshman side in a back and forth affair. Gonzaga showed excellent discipline and control as they quickly established dominance over the Hyde team. Down 17-0 Hyde battled back with scrappy play to narrow the gap to 27-25 before finally succumbing 36- 25 in the closing minutes. The coaches are extremely proud of our newest members of Hyde Rugby’s efforts and with a little more time and practice they will contribute great things to our program.
Wednesday pitted Hyde versus Georgetown Prep in our first league game of the season. Last season Prep dominated Hyde in a blow out and Hyde were looking to demonstrate that they had learned the hard lessons from their previous encounter. In a back and forth game that that was decided by a single try, Hyde were the victors 22-15. Standouts were Salim Lancaster and Alex Pettiford for their scrappy play and constant work rate, Darrel Harris for his defense and chip and chase from fullback.
Thursday saw Hyde play West Side High School from Houston, Texas. The game proved to be a physical affair from the start. Both sides, put their bodies on the line as they contested every tackle and ruck. West Side were one of the most physical teams Hyde has played in the last 10 years. Final score of the game had Hyde winning 22-5. Standouts were Anthony Lewis for fierce defense and attacking runs, Tyrone Barber for his physical presence in contact and counter-rucking, Troy Dorsey for his aggression and physicality in running the ball from the base and Tony Rogers for his in your face defense.
Friday Hyde entered its 3rd day in a row of playing games against a much improved and physically improved Landon school. As to be expected the previous two days of games left our numbers diminished due to injuries. Despite having to reconfigure our team for the day (4 players were unable to play and 4 more had to leave at halftime due to a performing arts show back at school) we were able to pull it together and escaped with a 7-5 win. In the final 4 minutes, Landon were camped out on our goal line but our defense did not break. The entire team should be recognized for their efforts. Those players that were playing their first Varsity rugby game really stepped up and have their first win under their belts.
Our B side and Middle School players next played Landons B side. Despite being down 17-0 at one point Hyde managed to battle back and win on the last play of the game to win 21-20. Stand out players were 8th graders Keenan and Cecil. Keenan was elusive in his running and scored 3 long range tries. Cecil was a physical presence and constantly broke tackles by running straight up the middle and over his opposition. Cecil scored the game winning try from 50 meters out bowling over Landon players and dragging a few on his way to win the game.
