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The BGSU rugby team’s victory over the University of Windsor won’t affect any league standings, but in terms of prestige, the win was a blockbuster. Once again the so-called small market school from the Midwest has turned the rugby world on its ear as the Falcons crushed the full varsity and Canadian powerhouse Lancers by a 56-20 score.
The victory is expected to move the Falcons up from the 15 slot they were given in the national ranking polling done before everyone’s season started in earnest this week.
‘Was this huge?’ BG coach Roger Mazzarella asked rhetorically. ‘Bigger than huge. [The Lancers] came down here with a ‘We’re varsity, we’ve played since we were 5, you’re nothing’ attitude, and we put them back on that bus and sent them home with their tails between their legs.
‘There are a lot of people that sat up a little straighter in their desk chairs when that score came across the rugby Web sites on Sunday morning,’ he said.
When asked for his assessment of the match, Windsor coach Trevor Drave flashed a nervous smile and said, ‘Crushed might be just a tad on the mild side. We got beat nine ways to Sunday. Their fly half [Derek Imes] made all the right decisions and BG’s forwards just ate us alive in the loose play. Attitude is everything in this game and BG showed up to play with plenty to spare.’
The final score, however, belies a game that was more of a chess match through the entire first half. In a lightning quick strike, Lancer fullback and Canadian national squad member Steve Piatek, took only 30 seconds to put his club on top 7-0 with a try up the middle and a conversion kick. Just as quickly, the Falcons struck back with a try around the end by fullback Dave Demings and conversion by fly half Derek Imes. With a good portion of the fans still finding their seats, the match was already tied 7-7.
Demings put the Lancers into full-time catch-up mode as he ended a 70-yard passing movement in the end zone with assists from center Zach Molnar and wing Ian Gagnon to give BG a 12-7 lead they would never relinquish.
‘For every try BG put over, we could only answer with a penalty kick,’ said Drake. ‘Even when we scored we hardly made up any ground.’
Windsor kept plugging away with a try, conversion and two penalties to leave the field at the half trailing by a 27-20 score, but seemingly with a shift of momentum to their side.
In his best performance as a Falcon, and one that would put him in the record books, Nutter started the second half on fire by reeling off three straight tries to end any Lancer hopes of winning the match. Nutter, a Bowling Green High School grad, broke loose twice from rolling mauls to touchdown in the corner, and out ran the entire Lancer backfield for his third try. Four tries in one match is the most ever for a Falcon forward.
Tries by wing Ian Gagnon and eight man Fred Ackermann, and two more conversions by Imes finished the Falcons out with a 56-20 final score.
Still elated, Mazzarella cautioned that it was just the start of the season, with Michigan looming in a rare Friday night game this week. The Falcons, now 4-0, will take on the Wolverines (0-0) with plans to restart a 22-year-long winning streak against Michigan that was broken last year. The Falcons lost to Michigan 15-7 last fall for the first time since 1982.
