On saturday we played a young and energetic group from Tennessee. The first half was very tough and hard fought. Chattanooga came out hitting hard and rucking very enthusiastic. They were playing harder and with more enegy than us. Our experience in the backs and forwards showed by being patient and letting the game come to us.
We went up early on a Matt Hernandez penalty kick. Later in the half our protecting, rucking and cleaning of the ball resulted in our first try by Rich Ferry in the corner. Matt's kick was wide left.
Our pack and backs kept the ball on their side of the field the last part of the half, mistakes on their part, and good open field play by us resulted in Kevin Hick's first try of the season.
We went into halftime with a lead, but the game still very much in doubt. The difference in the second half was desire and determination. Our forwards started asserting their dominance. The front row was solid. Mitch Long stole their put in countless times , and Paul was a force as usual. Perkins was in the right place at the right time. Good job front row.
Our locks lead by Cheese played solid. He didn't have his typical Cheese game, but picked it up in the second half and was solid. Ohio Joe played great. His off time training is really paying off and he played a good game for us. I hope the rest of you start running on your own, we need better fitness if we saw anything saturday.
Our Breakaways were excellent saturday. Kurt and Spencer showed what kind of tandem they could be. Tackling and running the ball like loose forwards should. But the forward man of the match was Kevin Hixs. His support, and eventual try, on Spencers' long run late in the second half took the steam out of Chattanooga. He was directly involved in 3 trys saturday. Excellent game Kevin. Keep it up.
In the backs our team has some superior talent. We can play with anyone. Mitch was solid at fly and made great decisions all day. His foot help us out when we needed it.
In the centers Tommy had a bull across from him and didn't let him score all day. He also made plays with some timely kicks and runs.
Our wings supported and and were utilized all day. Our wings are usually very strong, and today was no different. Jason had some memoralble hits as usual. Christian and Kenyon are top flight players.
Rich Ferry at Fullback was solid and cleaned up some sloppy ball that could have been a problem for us on more than one occassion.
But our man of the match in the backs was David our outside center. On more than one occassion he made yards without overworking our pack. Great kicks, and good running, and getting the ball to our talented wings was a site to be seen. Excellent game Dave.
Thanks to all that came out and helped fill in all game long. We really appreciate it. See you tuesday.
Paco
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