Saturday, April 4/Semi-Final: Fort Worth v Alamo City

As the winner of the central division, Fort Worth was the #2 seed going in based upon point differential. OKC had won the North, and Alamo City the South, ranked #1 and #3, respectively (All 3 teams had finished 10-0). McAllen made it through the quarterfinal round to round out the top 4 as the 4th seed. Fort Worth & AC had opted to take the early kickoff at 12:30, to allow McAllen and OKC a little more travel time due to their distances from Austin. Kickoff time was breezy and getting hot, with the temp above 80 for the first time this season. Alamo City kicked off, and Fort Worth began with a breeze at our backs. Unlike some previous matches, FW came out ready to play, and struck early when Spencer Ozmun started the scoring off a quick-tapped penalty deep in AC territory. 5 minutes in it was 5-0 Fort Worth. At the 9 minute mark, Ozmun would again put FW on the scoreboard, this time with a penalty goal from just inside the 22m. Althogh AC made some ground with their forwards running bruising bangers, FW camped in the AC half for much of the first 20 minutes, and consistently turned over AC ball when they did press the attack. At 21 minutes one of these turnovers from a tighthead scrum resulted in Jacobi finding the right corner of the AC goal for his first of the weekend, which Oz converted. 15-0 Fort Worth, and the momentum is building. Ryan Love rode the momentum wave to find some space near the AC goal line with a box kick from a ruck near the AC 22m. The bounce favored FW, and Josh Jones added to the momentum with a try of his own 4 minutes after Jacobi. It would be less than 4 minutes later that Jones would double after a scrum and penalty that resulted in the first yellow card of the weekend. With 11 minutes left in the half it was Fort Worth 25 Alamo City 0 and down to 14 men. AC were somehow able to build some pressure after this setback, working their way down into the Fort Worth half. AC controlled the ball for several phases but the FW defense would not crack. A frustrated AC flyhalf decided to try to chip over the FW defensive line, but the ball snagged by Jacobi just inside the FW 22, and returned 80m for a try in the right corner where he had scored 15 minutes earlier. The conversion failed, and that ended the scoring for the half at FW 30- Alamo City 0.

With the change of the half FW lost the wind advantage, and apparently the will to add to their scoring. Alamo City came out full of fire and undaunted by the 30 point hole they were in, immediately putting Fort Worth under pressure. Although camped inside the FW 22 for the first several minutes, AC could not penetrate the FW defense (namely Joe Mahoney), and finally settled for a drop goal to break the goose egg at 48:00. Reinvigorated, AC kept up the pressure, and FW kept missing tackles, resulting in an unconverted try about 5 minutes later. After a brief foray into the land of the Alamo, Fort Worth suffered another blow when Josh Jones went out with a knee injury. With FW already having used a tactical sub for the backs, this meant the return of Theo the Magnificent to fullback. Surely the ship would be righted! Did I mention that the pitch had some wet spots? With AC once again on the attack, FW firmly hit the snooze button. Theo hit a wet spot and did his best Larry-Fine-on-a-banana-peel impersonation, the ball went wild, the defense when to $%(* and suddenly AC had all the momentum with the score 30-13 and closing with just over 20 minutes to play. The FW scrum, which had dominated in the first half, found itself on loose footing. Although FW had a couple of forays into AC territory, they all ended in retreat through penalty or turnover. Now, it was time to put the game away, and FW stepped up. Shrugging off the previous 20 minutes as some sort of rugby nightmare, FW awoke and began to build pressure in the AC half. Strong running by the forwards eventually results in Brian Edmonson breaking the line and drawing the fullback, putting Jacobi into space on the right with with a beautiful offload. Jacobi put it away, pushing the game just beyond the reach of AC. Although FW did not convert, the score stood at 35-13 with the clock ticking away to the final 15 minutes. AC began to feel the pressure, and expressed a serious difference of opinion with the referee. Although I did not hear the comment, Wolfie did, and play was stopped while another Alamo City player took a 10 minute break in the bin. Although the AC attack continued, FW were up to the challenge, keeping AC at bay for the next 10 minutes. As they realized their season was ending, Alamo City mounted a frantic attack, pressurizing the FW goal line through several phases and a few penalties. Finally, with time running out and the game obviously out of reach, AC refused to quit and pressed FW against their goal line for several phases. Finally, the pressure became too intense and an unknown hand from an unidentified player accidentally knocked the scrumhalf pass down. Already under and advantage and with the play having started from a tapped penalty, Wolfie had no choice but to award a penalty try at, which was converted. At the final whistle, Fort Worth had survived (AND HOPEFULLY LEARNED A LESSON OR TWO). Final Score Fort Worth 35, Alamo City 20. Jacobi and Joe Mahoney would set a high standard for themselves to meet the following day with great effort by both. Ozmun had some fantastic takes in the lineout, and Jeremy Claunch made a successful return from injury with a strong performance. Thanks to Kyle Peacock for stopping up the middle channel and making the tackles that the forwards did not.

1-Mike Crisp, 2-Frank Hill, 3-James Johnson, 4-Spencer Ozmun, 5-Zac Mudd, 6-Joe Mahoney, 7-Gerry Poe, 8-Nick LoPresti, 9-Ryan Love, 10-Kyle Peacock, 11-Kevin Edmondson, 12-Chris Watson, 13-Josh Jones, 14-Jeremy Claunch, 15-Jacobi Cary, 16-Charlie Burgess, 17-Brian Edmondson, 18-Jimmy Torres, 19-Danimal Morgan, 20-Paul Conklin, 21-Jay Shepard, 22-Theo Van Wyk.

By the numbers:
Fort Worth scrums: Won-6, Lost-4 (OUCH!) Alamo City scrums: Won-1 (resulted in try), Lost-12 Fort Worth lineouts: Won-10, Lost-1 Alamo City lineouts: Won-4, Lost-6

Sunday, April 5/FINAL: Fort Worth v McAllen

After Fort Worth defeated Alamo City, the #4 seed, McAllen, knocked off #1 seed Oklahoma City in a pitched battle in the afternoon sun that went down to the wire, with the game not really out of OKC..s reach until the last 4 minutes. We knew we were in for a physical battle, and Alamo City were bigger than we were from 1-15. The day was a little cooler (72 ish), but much windier than Saturday, and the wind advantage would be huge. Fort Worth lost the toss, and kicked off into a very strong (20-25 mph) breeze. The ball wold not be back in the McAllen (MCA) half for a while. The Knights put Fort Worth under pressure from the get-go, but unlike Saturday, the guard dogs were up to the challenge. The big MCA forwards came and the FW forwards repelled them. For 10 minutes, MCA rarely left the FW 22m area for more than a few seconds. The FW scrum was tested early with a put on the5m line which was cleared (somehow) by Peacock. Finally, after phase after phase of tackles from the FW defensive line, the ball was turned over in a contest just inside the FW 22, and popped out to Chris Watson, who broke the McAllen line. Drawing the defenders, Watson set up Kevin Edmondson to shake the last defender and score under the posts. After 10 minutes of intense pressure from McAllen, it was FW on the scoreboard. Converted by Ozmun, FW was up 7-0. The ensuing kickoff went into touch on the full. Fort Worth took the scrum, and after a handful of offloads, Jacobi ended up with the ball on the right wing, and beat the defenders wide, eventually dotting down right where Kev had been minutes earlier. Oz was good again, and despite the intense wind disadvantage, Fort Worth lead 14-0. MCA kept coming, and the tackles kept coming from Fort Worth. Eventually, the pressure worked for McAllen, when FW conceded a penalty just outside their 22m. Slow to retreat, FW were caught napping by the quick tap, and MCA were quickly down the left sideline for a try, which was converted. Suddenly it was 14-7 with 12 minutes of wind left for MCA. Although MCA kept coming, FW were able to counter some, and the final 10 minutes of the half was a scoring stalemate. FW felt confident going into the half up by 7 in what most estimated to be a 20 point wind.

The second half was the mirror image of the first, with FW camping out in the MCA half. The FW pack continued to dominate the set pieces, and hard running from the backs, notably Chris Watson, continues to break the line and keep MCA on their heels. Conversely, hard running from MCAs inside center kept the FW tacklers busy, but with pressure from the guard dogs Fort Worth were able to keep the initial contact on the good side of th gain line, making MCAs strong runners work for every meter. Ten minutes into the half, FW had a scrummage at the MCA 5m. As the ball came squirting out the side amd was snatched up by MCA, pressure from the FW defense created a knock on resulting in another 5m scrum and a second opportunity. This time, the scrum wheeeled a bit too far, making a difficult delivery for Love and the pass went errant. Scrambling to regroup, a series of pick and jams and flat bangers eventually saw Brian Edmonson using his ABCs to again break the line. Echoing his assist fro the day before, Ed drew a couple of defenders before making another lovely looping pass to the support, this time in the person of this brother and team captain. The footrace was on, and Kev took the ball to the corner, scoring right in front of the alert touch judge, but hitting the ground hard in the process. As the conversion was missed, a woozy lil.. Ed wobbled back for the kickoff. He would continue for a few minutes, but the ferocity of the tackles required took their toll, and Kev had to be replaced. Erik Martin moved into the centers with Watson and Brent Danielson got his first taste of playoff rugby. It would not last long, as 4 minutes later he too would take a knock to the head and be forced to leave the pitch. Enter Gerry Poe, sometime flanker and part-time emergency wing replacement. For the next 20 minutes, MCA would try to break into the attacking third of the field with little luck, and the frustration built along with the physical intensity. MCA were called for several penalties for infringement at the ruck, eventually resulting in a yellow card for repeated infringement in slowing down the FW attack. FW kept coming, and with the illegal play addressed were able to string together several phases, eventually resulting in Nick LoPresti bashing through for a run at the goal line. Stopped just short of his goal, he took the ball to ground and popped to a supporting Gerry Poe on right shoulder, and Gerry capped the scoring in the 77th minute with yet another try at the wing position. MCA made one last desperate push to the FW line, but were repelled, leaving the final score Fort Worth 26, McAllen 7, and Fort Worth with the state championship trophy.

Kudos to Joe Manchild Mahoney for again putting the forward defense on his shoulders, and to Brian Edmondson for accepting the challenge and putting up a string defensive effort. Brent-too bad you won..t remember your first cup match! Erik, Jay, and Jeremy deserve mention for neutralizing the kicking threat and effectively taking away the wind advantage in the first half and allowing us to start the second on the front foot.

1-Mike Crisp, 2-Frank Hill, 3-James Johnson, 4-Spencer Ozmun, 5-Steve Holmes, 6-Brian Edmondson, 7-Joe Mahoney, 8-Nick LoPresti, 9-Ryan Love, 10-Kyle Peacock, 11-Erik Martin, 12-Chris Watson, 13-Kevin Edmondson, 14-Jeremy Claunch, 15-Jacobi Cary, 16-Charlie Burgess, 17-Zac Mudd, 18-Jimmy Torres, 19-Danimal Morgan, 20-Gerry Poe, 21-Jay Shepard, 22-Brent Danielson.

FW scrums: 12 won, 2 lost (NICE IMPROVEMENT) MCA scrums: 3 won, 8 lost FW lineouts: 6 won, 3 lost MCA lineouts: 4 won, 11 lost

Tune in tomorrow to see if we will have a challenge match for the West quarterfinal.

~Kieth Dalton