Anyone who showed up at College Park last Saturday thinking they were going to attend a rugby match had to be excused if they thought they stumbled on to a track meet instead.
The top ten nationally ranked Bowling Green rugby team crushed Grand Valley State by scores of 96-7 and 101-0.
Just for good measure, the Falcon ruggers also skunked Ohio Northern, 39-0.
“It’s always nice to start off at home with a win, but this is a bit more than I expected,” BG coach Roger Mazzarella said. “Despite three good weeks of practice, we’ve had some concerns about dropped balls, position changes and the number of new faces in the first lineup. It all came together rather nicely, though, against a team trying to make the move to the rugby big-time.”
The Falcons gave GVSU just what the doctor ordered.
“We’ve had some close games in the past against GVSU and they’ve always yelled for us to bring on the ‘A’ side,” assistant coach Chris Hopps said. “Well, they got their wish.”
“BG is at the top for a long time and we are trying to squeeze our way in,” GVSU coach John Mullett said. “They are at the level we want to be at.”
Grand Valley did not fold up their defense from the get-go. For most of the first half, the Falcons had to fight and claw their way throught a less-than-charitable GVSU defense.
“Whatever the Lakers lacked in skill, they certainly made up for in determination,” Hopps said.
Fly half Derek Imes opened the scoring when he landed a 35-yard penalty field goal and geve the Falcons a 3-0 lead they never relinquished.
After being stymied early on by the Lakers, Ian Gagnon garnered BG’s first try on a bust that broke three tackles that, with Imes’ conversion, made the score 10-0.
That score was followed with tries by center Carl Samuel, scrum half Brian Knaupe and the first of four scores by wing Matt Johnston. A conversion and penalty by Imes finished the half with the Falcons leading 30-0.
The Lakers immediately started the second half by rolling their way into the endzone for seven points and their only score.
Worn down and knocked back on their heels for the entire day, the Lakers’ defense started to crumble. For the Falcons’ backs, it was off to the races. Wing Matt Johnston reeled off three more tries in quick succession following long runs down the sideline, making the score 49-7 and putting the game away for BG. But the Falcons kept plugging away en route to a 96-7 win.
BG’s offense picked up right where they left off to start the second game, crossing the Laker goal line with regularity. What had started as a hard-fought match two hours ago turned into a two-match rout.
The Falcons’ offensive fireworks were paced by freshman win Dan Brandenstein, who had three tries, and eight man Bryan Kupper, fly half Jon Woodman, center Ben Fledderjohann, and flankers Mike Marquis and Ryan Bonek, who each scored twice.
“I looked back once and there was no one even coming after me,” Kupper said.
Also picking up tries were Chris Gruber, Ben Guteck, Matt Scowen and Vince Staropoli. Gutek had five conversions while Bradenstein, Stropoli and Woodman all hit one each to make the final 101-0.
In the third match, BG’s rookies overpowered Ohio Northern, 39-0. Picking up a pair of tries was Scott Marwin while Bryan LaMore, Kevin Meredith, Body Davis, Chuck Fiala and Terry Kilbane scored one each. Ryan Deal kicked two conversions in the win.
The Falcons, now 4-1 and ranked No. 9 in the nation, will host Central Michigan on Saturday at College Park at 1 p.m.
