PANTHERS
2004 South High School Championship
North Carolina and Louisiana Meet for South High
School Championship
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Fort Benning, GA
Brother Martin HS Crusaders (LA) 17
Pineville-Matthews HS Hoggs (NC) 12
The Brother Martin Crusader Rugby Club from Louisiana
and the Pineville-Mathew Hoggs from North Carolina met in Ft. Benning
to determine the USA Rugby South Championship. The winner of this 2nd
annual event held this year in Columbus, GA will go on to represent
USA Rugby South in the USA Rugby National High School Championship
to be held in Ft Worth, TX on May 18.
With the sound of artillery in the background, Brother
Martin opened the match with some fireworks of its own as the Crusader
backs kept the Hoggs under pressure. Wing Adam Ducoing let the charge
with two tries. Only the stout cover defense from Pineville-Mathews
stopped scoring opportunities created by the Brother Martin backline.
With the score at 10-0, the Hoggs got on the board using powerful forward
movements and strong running from its backs. The Crusaders countered
with #8 Matt Mang crashing over from a scrum and Aaron Sidora converting.
Halftime score stood at 17-5 in favor of the boys from Louisiana.
Pineville-Mathrews came out in the second
half determined to represent the South again in the national championship
tournament. With constant
pressure on the Crusader defense, the Hoggs were finally rewarded with
a try from a penalty deep in the Brother Martin half. With the successful
conversion, the score tightened to 17-12 with 10 minutes to play. Using
tactical kicking, the Crusaders moved the ball into the Hoggs end and
kept pressure on the try line for the balance of the half. As the final
whistle blew, the Crusader players, coaches, families, and supporters
celebrated a hard fought victory and a chance to represent the South
in the national tournament.
Special thanks to Gary Kent and the
Columbus Rugby Club for organizing the championship match in Ft. Benning
/ Columbus on
short notice.
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