September 6, 2003

The match on Saturday, September 6th featured the Pigs facing the Fairbault Boksprings on their home soil for the first league match of the season. The first 20 minutes remained scoreless as both teams struggled to capitalize on numerous opportunities to score. Faced with an opportunity to draw first blood, Fairbo missed a centered penalty kick from the 22m. line. The scoring drought was broken when Matt Sonnek punched in for the try off a penalty play that was set up by an Earnest Wayde breakaway from midfield. Billy Bridgeman began his nearly flawless kicking performance with the conversion. The Pigs’ second try of the half came from Ike Muringai after close support of some magnificent work by the backline. Again, Bridgeman converted. The first half ended with a 14-0 advantage to the Pigs.

The second half proved to be more of the same as St Paul finally found their groove and began to systematically break holes in Bokspring defense. An early penalty kick by Billy Bridgeman added 3 more to the tally, while tries by Earnest Wayde (2 trys), Getiria Onsongo, and Grant Deitrich made for a very convincing victory and a great start to the season. Though plagued by injuries, the Pigs managed to capitalize on team play, fitness, ball handling, superiority in the lineouts, and Bill Bridgeman’s Golden Foot to come out with a win.

Lineup:
1.Chris Griffith (Troy Midboe) 2.Matt Sonnek 3.Luke Utting 4.Mark Lynch 5.Ike Muringai 6.Mike Lundberg 7.Jay Sandeen (Jeff Zweber) 8.Mike Hankee (captain) 9.Jason Rombalski 10.Bill Bridgeman 11.Earnest Wayde (David Johnson) 12.Getiria Onsongo 13.Scott Colby 14.Steve King 15.Grant Deitrich

Scoring:
Tries: Sonic, Muringai, Wayde (2), Onsongo, Deitrich
Conversions: Bridgeman (5/6)
Penalties: Bridgeman (1/1)

August 30, 2003

Thanks to everyone involved in what was a very successful Jesse James tournament this year. We had great weather, great action on the field, and a great time at the post tournament party.

After winning the first two matches on the day by a combined score of 74-5, the Pigs lost a close match 12-15 in the final to take second place in the tournament.

July 26, 2003

St Paul was in more summer action at the weekend playing against the Minnesota U21 side at Columbia Park. On a very hot summer day St. Paul took the lead with two penalties from the boot of Bill Bridgman. The Minnesota U21 side struck back quickly with their backline crossing for a try under the post which was converted.

The Pigs fought back with tries from John Sydow and Jay Sandeen who went over after a sustained period of pressure that saw the backs and forwards linking and supporting well. Grant Dietrich went over for St. Paul’s third try after some strong evasive running and Bill Bridgman was able to convert two of St. Paul’s tries as well as successfully making a drop goal.

Tony Lano, who was able to break the Minnesota U21 line, rounded off the St Paul scoring with a try under the post, which he was also able to convert.

July 12, 2003

The Pigs traveled down to Oshkosh to play in the annual Pig Fest 10s. Our first pool game was a hard opener against Oshkosh Old Boys, after going down to three early tries in the first half the pigs began to find their feet and fought back in the second half with two tries from Kato & Muddy but we were unable to make up the points by the end of the game losing 29 – 10.

Game 2 against Appleton saw the Pigs in great form, scoring 3 tries to 1 and dominating the game from start to finish, the pigs team play saw Muddy, Joe Huberty and Gitch all going over for tries, but after losing Charlie Brown (Ponch) to an injury in the first game we were unable to convert our tries but still won the game 15 – 7.

The pigs final game against Wausau saw us finish off our group games with a 12 – 7 win. Both of the pigs tries came from the power running of Mike Lunberg and rounded off the group stages with two wins and a loss regrettably not progressing us to the semi final stages of the competition.

Oshkosh Old boys were defeated in the semi finals by a very strong Chicago Griffins side that went on to beat Milwaukee Harlequins in the final game and win the tournament. Thanks to all the guys who traveled down – Mike Hankee (C), Getiria Onsongo, Chris Griffith, Jeremy Nauman, Joe Huberty, Mike Lunberg, Jason Rombalski, Joe Potti, Ike Maurinagi, Luke Utting, Jeff Gunness, Jeff Lynch and Brett Carter.

June 7, 2003

In our first tournament match, after going down to 2 early tries we fought back against some good opposition to take the victory.

By the second game against St Cloud, we were starting to find our feet, and despite a scare by ‘Stone Hands’ Kato at the start of the second half the win was never in question.

The final game against Faribault was dominated from start to finish by the Pigs who finished the tournament with a 40-5 Victory against the home team.

Throughout the tournament the pigs demonstrated good ball skills, but our continued support play was the deciding factor in wining the tournament.

May, 18, 2003

A disappointing spring season ended on a high note Sunday as the Pigs defeated River City RFC 24-19 in Mason City, Iowa. Joe Huberty scored two tries, Grizzly Malchow scored one, and Bill Bridgeman kicked 3 conversions and a penalty as the Pigs withstood a late rally by River City to hang on for the victory.

November 2, 2002

In the last game of the fall 2002 season the Pigs came out looking sharp and intense. The early pressure forced some mistakes by the Banshees and after several good phases the Pigs took an early 7 – 0 lead through a Danny Kiefer try and Brandon Johnson conversion. After several more Pigs’ scoring opportunities went to waste the Banshees came back with a try of their own to cut the lead to 7 – 5, and it looked like the first half would end with that score. In injury time, however, the Pigs took advantage of a Banshees defensive lapse when Joe Lang kicked a nice grubber through the defenese and Brandon Johnson ran it down in the try zone for the score. The conversion was good, and it was 14 – 7 at half.

The second half saw a bit of a momentum change, and the Banshees were able to fight back with a converted try and a penalty to take a 15 – 14 lead. The Pigs refused to give up, however, and with less than 10 minutes left Brandon Johnson was able to get in for another try and a 19 – 15 Pigs lead. Unfortunately, the back and forth nature of the match continued, and the Banshees came back one more time with a converted try of their own to go back on top 22 – 19. A last ditch effort for the Pigs came up a little short as time ran out on the match and the fall season.

A third half saw a nice mixture of some new players for the Pigs alongside some wily veterans getting a match in. Joe Lang scored the lone Pigs try, chasing down his own kick to fall across the line and touch the ball down for a final score of 12 – 7.

Pigs’ Lineup
1-Ben Hanson,2-Danny Kiefer,3-Luke Utting,4-Grizzly Malchow,5-Joe Huberty,6-Mike Lundberg,7-Zach Bauer,8-Mike Hankee,9-Brandon Johnson,10-Scott Colby,11-Steve King(Philip Wagner),12-Joe Lang,13-Will Bryant,14-Jason Rombalski,15-Grant Dietrich

Scoring
Saint Paul 19 – 3 tries (Johnson 2, Kiefer), 2 conversions (Johnson)
Banshees 22 – 3 tries, 2 conversions, penalty

October 19, 2002

On a cool but sunny Saturday in Des Moines the Pigs played a much better game, but still came up short. Two quick tries by Des Moines contributed to a poor start, but the Pigs fought back with a try of their own on a great solo effort by Mike Hankee who took a quick tap penalty and ran through the Des Moines defense to score. In what was to become a pattern throughout the day, however, after scoring to narrow the deficit sloppy play from the Pigs gave 2 tries right back to Des Moines. A penalty from Leon DeLange late in the first half then cut the deficit to 22-8.

The second half was unfortunately more of the same. The Pigs played hard and fought back numerous times, but for every time we scored we had a lapse or two that Des Moines was able to punish. Our second half scoring came on a Jason Rombalski try after a long run off of an 8 man pick by Mike Hankee, a Grizzly Malchow try after some fine work by our forwards in the loose, and a Danny Kiefer try after a series of successful rucking play. Leon DeLange was called into kicking duty and made 2 of 4 conversions for our final tally of 27 points.

Pigs’ Lineup
1-Ben Hanson,2-Luke Utting,3-Larry Prahm,4-Grizzly Malchow,5-Leon DeLange,6-Mike Lundberg,7-Danny Kiefer,8-Mike Hankee,9-Jason Rombalski,10-Bill Bridgeman(Jamie Calvert,Jaffrey Blanks),11-Joe Blegen,12-Philip Wagner,13-Steve King,14-Brett Carter,15-Grant Dietrich

Scoring
Saint Paul 27 – 4 tries (Hankee,Malchow,Rombalski,Kiefer), 2 conversions (DeLange), penalty (DeLange)
Des Moines 44 – 8 tries, 2 conversions

October 12, 2002

The Pigs poor start to the season continued Saturday with a loss to Metropolis, who scored 4 tries in each half. Poor tackling and generally bad defense doomed the Pigs, who managed only a single try by fly-half Bill Bridgeman shortly after half time.

Pigs’ Lineup
1-Ben Hanson,2-Danny Kiefer,3-Luke Utting,4-Grizzly Malchow,5-Joe Huberty,6-Mike Lundberg(Tom Rubey),7-Zach Bauer,8-Doug Hopp(Mike Hankee),9-Brandon Johnson,10-Bill Bridgeman(Joe Blegen),11-Jason Rombalski,12-Scott Colby,13-Joe Lang,14-Steve King,15-Grant Dietrich

Scoring
Saint Paul 7 – try (Bridgeman), conversion (Bridgeman)
Metropolis 50 – 8 tries, 5 conversions

September 28, 2002

The Pigs and Banshees battled this past Saturday at Fort Snelling under cool and rainy skies. As has been the case all year, some sloppy play and early mistakes cost the Pigs, who quickly fell behind 12-0 on two Banshee tries (one converted). Things evened out a bit after that, but the Banshees managed to run in one more before half time, for a 17-0 lead at the break.

Saint Paul started stronger in the second half, but was unable to convert a couple of early scoring opportunities, and the Banshees fought back to get a 4th try for a 22-0 score. The Pigs battled to the end, however, and finally got on the board about 10 minutes from full time on a fine run by Scott Colby and Will Bryant. Colby, who had switched from fullback to fly half for the injured Bill Bridgeman took a pass from a scrum and cut upfield between 2 defenders. When the defense finally closed him down, he was able to pass off to Bryant who out-raced the Banshee defense to run in the try from midfield. Jason Naber’s conversion was good, and the score was 22-7.

That was all the Pigs could manage on the day, however, and the match ended a 22-7 Banshee victory. A shortened second side match saw several new faces excel for the Pigs, although they couldn’t quite punch it in and lost 5-0 on a lone Banshee try.

Pigs’ Lineup
1-Ben Hanson,2-Danny Kiefer,3-Joe Huberty(Tom Rubey),4-Leon DeLange,5-Jason Naber,6-Mike Hankee,7-Zach Bauer,8-Grizzly Malchow,9-Brandon Johnson(Brett Carter),10-Bill Bridgeman(Kevin Carmody),11-Steve King,12-Philip Wagner,13-Will Bryant,14-Jason Rombalski,15-Scott Colby

Scoring
Saint Paul 7 – try (Bryant), conversion (Naber)
Banshees 22 – 4 tries, conversion