by Ellensburg, Wash. (Feb. 16) – With Tomlinson Stadium surrounded by snow, the Central Washington University men’s rugby team supplied an avalanche of offense, melting Utah State University 113-0.
“We stuck to the game plan pretty well,” CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley said. “We didn’t want to play too much rugby in our own half and the kicking game was working really well for us. We were organized with our chase line and put pressure on them to force a turnover. We pieced together some nice pieces of attack. At times we weren’t getting square enough around the corner on attack, which allowed Utah State to be very physical with us.”
Alex Mackenzie got the Wildcats on the board early in the second minute of the game. McKenzie took the ball from midfield and ran untouched for a try. Reuben Ludick kicked the conversion, his first of seven in the half.
At the seven-minute mark, the Wildcats had a throw in from the five-meter line. Cole Zercone ended up with the ball, muscling his way through the defense for a try. Kawika Macy (Navajo) followed with a try of his own in the 11th minute. Macy found the try zone two more times before halftime. The Wildcats enjoyed a 68-0 lead at the break.
“We’ve been working really hard at our defensive shape,” Thornley continued. “We are a lot improved from last year. I thought we did a good job sticking to our principles and slowing their ball down a bit, which helped us keep our line.”
Coming out of halftime, Marques Fuala’au added to the Wildcat lead with a conversion. Henry Foster was assigned the duties of kicking conversions in the second half. He’d knock two through the uprights.
Alex Cleary then added a try, followed by consecutive tries from Zarcone. In the 67th minute Foster added a try and knocked through the conversion.
After a try from Elliott Finn on his birthday, Diego Damian-Hernandez capped the Wildcats’ scoring in the 70th minute.
