Heart of Dixie Tournament - October 3rd-4th, 2009

During the first week of October 2009, High Country RFC traveled to Huntsville, Alabama to take part in the Heart of Dixie Tournament. The team had not traveled to Huntsville since the infamous Fan Brawl of 2007, where Huntsville fans on the sideline attacked High Country players on the pitch. This time around, High Country kept the fighting on the pitch, ending the tournament with one victory and one loss. Each game the team played great, just couldn’t execute down the stretch to win the final one.

The first match was against a combination side of Columbus and Montgomery, team name was Montgumbus. In terms of personnel, High Country had plenty of forwards, but only enough backs to form a side. In other words no subs or rest for them and plenty of forwards play. At the opening kickoff each team seemed pretty pumped up, and as a result no team really took control. Instead the first few minutes featured a lot of lineouts and scrum downs as penalties and knock ons were a plenty. Nevertheless, this is when High Country started to get into their game plan and pound the ball off the ruck using pod play. The next 30 minutes of game play was too hectic to describe in great specificity—or maybe I don’t remember details after the drink-up—but High Country put one the greatest offensive displays I have ever been apart of on the rugby pitch. This was against a combination Division II team as well and not some college side. The High Country forwards literally ran down Montgumbus throats until they no longer wanted any part in stopping the barrage. High Country would secure ball in lineout or scrum down, run multiple phases off the ruck and spin the ball out to a back for a long run. Kudos to Abram who in his first game under High country Blue and Green secured Man of the Match honors for too many long line breaks to count. His game was Barry Sanders like in his ability to not get tackled in space. Big Cheese, Bad Mitch and Senseless also played awesome games as they continually broke gain line and then dumped off the pass into a forward coming through the newly created gap for further distance. One great play in particular was High Country nearly pushing in a try on a 5-meter scrum down. In the end, I believe almost all the starting forwards scored tries—Kevin, Bad Mitch, Cheese, Senseless. Unfortunately, John Harley had his try taken away on a weird referee obstruction call. This would be Harley’s third try taken away due to some technicality. Although the forwards played great, the backs also held up their end solidly as well. Benji, as usual, played great scrum half and assisted on multiple tries. Tumi the new South African fly half played great until pulling his hamstring. Anthony the new starter at wing was involved in a lot of action, assisting on a try to Kevin late in the first half on a perfectly timed pass in a 2 on 1 situation. Finally, Troy Albright and Mike Long each had interceptions leading to tries, or pick 5’s. Like all good High Country teams, there was strong play by the reserves who came in after the turn: Andrew Brown, Jason, Big Corey, Bragg to name a few. There’s never a drop off in a talent or effort when players are switched in and out. In the end, the final score was 50-0, and as Andrew would find out later, Montgumbus players were not pleased at the result.

The second match turned out to be against Huntsville (rather than Birmingham) as they switched up the schedule to face us. This was a good reflection on High Country as the home team with all their players and home field advantage wanted to test their mettle against us. Although High Country ended up losing the game 13-26 the score was a lot closer than it looked. The team doesn’t believe in moral victories, but players and fans a like should hold their heads up high after the match. The game started out really sloppy for High Country, as Huntsville kept hammering the ball and keeping it within the HC 25-meter line. Eventually—with help from Senseless pleading for the team to toughen up—High Country was able to sustain some phases and get the ball into Huntsville territory. Kicking for touch, Benji set up a great lineout opportunity about 10 meters outside the try zone. Perfectly executing a designed lineout, High Country scored the first try. With a full head of steam, Cheese received the ball from the thrower coming through at the 5-meter mark; where the front pod had moved back creating an opening. Huntsville bit on the front pod fake, leaving a gaping hole that Cheese barreled through. A few minutes later Huntsville answered with a long try of their own by the outside center—a player that High Country could not seem to stop. Score 5-7 Huntsville. High Country battled back for a penalty kick, taking the lead 8-7. Once again Huntsville answered back with a try by their 13-man, score 8-12. Rattled, the High Country team looked shaky until Lee Fudger picked up a loose ball and powered it into the 5-meter line. Though he may have been able to score himself, he presented the ball safely and allowed the team to ruck over, eventually setting up Andres for the try. High Country took the lead 13-12 with about 15 minutes left in the match. The turning point in the match came later on, off of a lineout. After successfully securing ball, Kevin came down with the lineout and set-up a maul. The High Country forwards were able to move about ten meters, sucking in the Huntsville defense and creeping close to the 5-meter mark. Unfortunately, as the ball was spun out to the backs, the Huntsville 13-man again intercepted the ball and took it to the house. This was the nail in the coffin and ended High Country’s chance at victory. Game over. A good, but humbling game it was. Hopefully it shows High Country that there is still much to learn and practice if a South Championship is to be earned.

Check out picture from the game and after match party!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Andrew.Patrick.Brown/HeartOfDixie2009?feat=d...

Don't forget to check out Total Neil Diamonation on Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcHmSn3NeQs

By: Kevin Paavola