RUGBY DEFEATS UNC-CHAPEL HILL 29-15!
June 24, 2008 By iHigh Staff of Myers Park High School
On Saturday, April 13, a mixed Myers Park side of A and B players accepted an invitation to have a rematch with UNC-CH's "Killer B's" at Carolina's rugby field. The game kicked off at noon, and UNC looked like a team determined to rectify a 0-0 draw from earlier in the season. UNC played a very technical game in the backs with an assortment of switches, dummies, and skip passes; many times, overloading the strong side with loose forwards. Myers Park responded with a "bend, but don't break" defense that saw a handful of UNC players make promising breaks, but were tackled before scoring. The constant defensive pressure applied by UNC resulted in shaky decision-making by the Myers Park, and this resulted in a 15-0 deficit going into halftime for Myers Park. The second half saw a Myers Park team that turned up the concentration and intensity, determined to erase the deficit and get a victory. Just as in the first half, play was in the middle 50% of the field and the intensity was high. The Myers Park forwards started to take charge and used the maul to eat up large chunks of field. The play by the forwards began to open up the field for the backs, and this resulted in promising breaks downfield. The determined play by Myers Park began to wear down UNC, and began resulting in points. With play beginning to stay in UNC's side of the field, Myers Park eventually took a 17-15 lead in the game with a penalty kick. The strong play continued from there, but with time running out and Myers Park in the lead 22-15, UNC began a promising last push to finish the game with a draw. In the last play of the game, strong defensive pressure from Myers Park resulted in a 3/4 field run from CJ Christianson for game clinching try. UNC was kind enough to name Myers Park's Travis Connor as the man of the game. We appreciate their hospitality and hope to continue this relationship into future seasons.
Posted by: TheMustangs |
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