April 16, 2005
The first game of the Midwest DIII playoffs saw Saint Paul RFC take on Cedar Rapids (Iowa) in a steady rain. The adverse conditions didn’t seem to affect the Pigs, however, as we immediately moved into the Cedar Rapids end off of the opening kickoff. After some continued possession, Jake Hodgson was able to score from a couple meters out, and it was 5-0 to the Pigs just 5 minutes into the match. The pressure continued, and after several Cedar Rapids penalties, one was conceded in a kickable position, which Jason Naber converted to up the lead to 8-0. A few minutes later, following a great interception and run by Ryan Backman, and a series of great rucks by our forward pack, the ball went out to the backs to outside center Jamarr Johnson, who took it in to score under the posts. Naber’s conversion was good, it was 15-0 Pigs less than 20 minutes into the match, and it looked like we were on our way to a runaway victory. The Cedar Rapids defense stiffened significantly though, and despite a tremendous possession advantage throught the rest of the first half, we were unable to put up any more points, and the halftime score stood 15-0.
The second half saw Cedar Rapids take over much more of the possession and push into our half of the field quite a bit. The Pigs defense held strong for a long period inside our own 22, but finally conceded a try in the 60th minute. The conversion was good, and at 15-7 it looked like Cedar Rapids was poised to make a run. Some substitutions and fresh legs helped, though, as we seemed to tire less than they did, and kept better ball for the last 20 minutes to hang on for the victory.
Lineup:
1. Luke Utting (Matt Sonnek) 2. Danny Kieffer 3. Troy Midboe (Rich Cerasini) 4. Jason Naber 5. Ryan Backman 6. Zac Bauer 7. Jake Hodgson (Mike Peloquin) 8. Mike Hankee (Captain) 9. Jason Rombalski 10. Mark Erickson 11. Jason Benson 12. Jesse Struve 13. Jamarr Johnson 14. Gitch Onsongo (Brett Carter) 15. Jeff Zweber
Scoring:
Tries: Hodgson, Johnson
Conversions: Naber (1/2)
Penalties: Naber (1/1)