Rugby Open Season with a Blowout Win

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Mark Scott, Editor-in-Chief

The Red Devils cracked the season open with a 37-0 victory over Francis Howell.

Though it was a scrimmage and not an “official” game, due to Francis Howell being on Spring Break and not having enough players, this was still a great kickstart to the season.

Francis Howell only had 13 of the 15 players needed to field a team, so various members of Chaminade’s club crossed enemy lines and played for Howell for a half of the game.

Pedro Gunther, Alex Gladson, Adam Koetting, Nathan Einig, and Aedan Stewart played on both teams periodically throughout the game.

For nearly one-third of the team, this was their first rugby game ever. Due to this lack of experience, there was some concern that the Red Devils would struggle to perform on both sides of the ball.

Only a few minutes into the game, the team proved that they could not only hold their own but that they were a very solid rugby squad.

“I think the game went very well. I was pretty nervous coming into the game because I knew most guys hadn’t played before and Francis Howell has been pretty good in years past. As we really started scoring the energy went up, I became more confident that we could be a top team this year” said Senior Adam Koetting.

Koetting has played Rugby all four years of high school and looks to come out as state champions his senior year.

Offensively, Chaminade came out firing on all cylinders. Scorers for the Red Devils included: Chance Lapoint, Louis Prevost, Zach Helmsing, and Pedro Gunther. The offensive play from both the backline and the forwards was fantastic.

The forwards were moving in pods of three and moving the ball downfield, and at the same time the backs were spreading the field out. Not to mention, there were only a few dropped passes, even during the rain.

“For it being some of the guy’s first game I was really impressed by our performance. There are little things about the sport they need to learn, but their ability to play simple rugby was spectacular” said Junior Captain Jack Lake.

Defensively, the Red Devils played outstandingly. Chaminade proved that though they may be considered a small team, they can still make the hard open-field tackles that come with rugby.

Francis Howell is one of the bigger teams that the Red Devils will face this year, which makes this defensive performance even more special.

Jack Lake then went on to say, “There are many things we need to work on as a team and as individuals. I think the main thing is discipline and game knowledge, but that is a thing that comes with playing the game more”. The team looks to correct their mistakes next week during practice.

In the end, the best way they will learn the game is through more games and more experience.