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Maverick Rugby Results
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MAVERICKS - 38 MIDLAND - 7
Midland Freshman HS Midland,TX - January 14, 2012
The Mavericks started the second half of the season with a trip out west to Midland where they were looking to return with their first road win ever
against the Mad Dogs. With 21 strong traveling via air or van the Mavericks arrived 2 hours prior to kick off as the Mad Dogs looked like us at
home with guys rolling in 30 minutes before kick off.
The Mavericks kicked off and quickly put pressure on the Mad Dogs which resulted in a penalty 10m out in front of the posts. Rather than take the easy
points and early lead the Mavericks attempted to run the ball which eventually ended up out wide to Kris Minyard who beat one defender, got into the try zone but somehow managed to lose the ball when trying to ground it when the full back slid over in attempt to hold him up. Another Mad Dog infraction a minute later from 25m out gave the Mavericks a chance to get on the board but Thunder missed the kick even though it appeared to be good as the other touch judge, one Officer Brickett was still on the sidelines and not behind the posts to confer with the other TJ. The Mavericks continued to keep pressure on the Mad Dogs and played most of the first half in their end. The Mavericks were finally able to get on the board at the 7 minute mark when Philip Ordonez took a crap pass off the base of the scrum 30m out that bounced past the flyhalf but broke a tackle, fed Thunder back inside who chose not to pass to the overload outside and was able to weave through for the try that he converted. It was another 7 minutes later when Ray Greer stole a Mad Dog line out from 40m out that was spun wide to Jon "Baby Jesus" Morrison on the wing who outraced the defenders for the try to go up by 14. The Mavericks went 7 (points) for 7 (minutes) again with some nice back line play off a set piece from 40m out that had LBL feeding Philip for the last 15m under the posts. There was a extra 2 minute lull in the scoring from the 7 minute pace but was made up for it with 2 tries in 2 minutes by Minyard who scored from 15m out after a nice move and then went 40m on an intercept to close out the first half scoring and make amends for his missed chance at the start of the match.
Half Time Mavericks - 33 Midland Mad Dogs - 0
The Mavericks looked to add to the tally early as after some nice backline play Daniel "MVP" Garcia made a nice feed to Minyard 50m out near the sideline for what appeared to be a sure try but he ran out of gas and was tackled short by the Mad Dog fullback. The running out of gas started to spread through the rest of the side like a wild fire as there was a lot of walking and panting in the second half. The Mad Dogs took advantage of that when their big Flanker/Center broke a handful of tackles, rambled 50m with support where after a few pick and go's he was able to dive over to get them on the board 10 minutes into the second half. With the Mavericks running on fumes a good part of the second half they didn't manage to take advantage of the time spent in the Midland half of the field. The Mavericks were able to empty the bench as Asa Low got into his first game, Erin "Iron Eagle" Engel had a strong 20 minutes and old timers Michael T., Joe Kelly and El Presidente saw some action as well. The scoring was closed out just prior to full time when Evan Dietz went over form 5m out off a line out play that took a few tries as we couldn't manage to get a good and/or straight throw.
Final Score Mavericks - 38 Midland Mad Dogs - 7
Midland was a great host as the post match festivities were on a loading dock outside of a warehouse/garage across from some oil storage tanks instead of a backyard which allowed us to sing which resulted in watching JoJo and Snots shoot some nasty, mustard filled boots. Midland picked Daniel for Man of the Match. Come on, really. But he did not match the Juicy standard of last year and did not jug his bottle of MD2020. The trip home was a good one but a little too much philosophical talk from the van's second row of Joe, MVP and Snots who managed to kill a Keystone Light 30 Pack. And who said beer doesn't make you smart.
John K - 1/22/12OKC CRUSADERS - 27 MAVERICKS - 7
Prairie Park Grand Prairie, TX - December 10, 2011
The Mavericks hosted the OKC Crusaders in the last Cup Match of the first half of the season at Prairie Park in Grand Prairie. The cold and wet weather moved out and it was a great day for rugby and surprisingly next to no wind at the pitch which is rarity.
The Mavericks received to start the match and had a hard time getting out of their own end but eventually managed to do so. The early stages of the match were played between the 10's or there about with neither side moving the ball much. The Mavericks were the first to get on the board at the 15 minute mark when LBL at inside center jutted up for an interception and went 25m untouched for the try that Thunder converted. The Crusaders answered less than 10 minutes later off a nice darting run and blatant missed call off a 15M lineout. The Crusaders ran their Props and Locks at the Mavericks who more often than not would wait for them at the gain line as opposed to going up hard in defense so it was just a matter of time (31st minute to be exact) until we paid the price. A banger to their big, slow Lock off a Free Kick (Scrum Feed Infraction) from 15M out found no one wanting to tackle him until he was falling over in the corner to put OKC up by 5. OKC closed out the first half scoring when pretty much like before after multiple phases but this time it was their Prop that went over from 15M out.
Half Time OKC - 17 Mavericks - 7
The second half saw the Mavericks start out a bit better and where able to get deep inside OKC territory and the forwards were looking to score from 5m out with pick and drives but they went to the well one time too many times as they lost the ball in the tackle while the backs had a huge overload on the outside. That would pretty much be our only scoring opportunity of the second half as we never managed to amount any sort of continuity. OKC added a try at the 64th minute to put the game away and added one more at 75 minutes for good measure.
Final Score OKC - 27 Mavericks - 7
1st Half Season Recap
We finished the first half of the cup season with a 2-2 record and if it weren't for a 90 second meltdown at the end of the first and start of the second halves against Fort Sill we would be 3-1. We have 6 cup matches left with 4 of them on the road which includes a trip to Midland on January 14th to start 2012 as well as back to back trips to Oklahoma the first two weeks of March. We have played well at times but there aren't enough of "those' times for us to be more successful on a consistent basis. Our team as a whole doesn't
take well to getting punched in the face first which normally sets the tone for a match which was evident for us when we were the instigators against Frisco. We have to be a more aggressive bunch in all phases of the game. Defensively our forwards wait at the ruck for the banger and our backs don't come up hard and our tackling leaves a lot to be desired but when we do make tackles we never attempt to poach the ball even when we have tackler-assists which should make it easier. You are going to get hit at the breakdown whether you stand there or go for the ball so you might as well go for the ball and maybe draw a penalty for not releasing. Offensively we work on many things in practice for both the forwards and backs but nothing rarely transpires onto the pitch. Over the past 14 weeks we have had 22 practices and 9 matches so you would think our players would be well versed on what we are trying to accomplish especially with some who have been playing for quite some time. We work on lineouts as well ensuing plays off of them but rarely run them in matches and our scrum is getting pushed around too much the latter of which I take responsibility for and it will be addressed when we start up in January. I can count on one hand how many pass and loops I have seen this season and other than the inside center who pretty much runs crashes I don't recall any of our backs running straight much this season as they tend to drift which allows the defender to easily slide and cover more than one man. We have worked on these and others in practice and there is still more to teach and much more fitness needed but you can only fit so much in two 90 minute sessions a week.
On more positive note we have had a lot of new and for the most part younger guys come out this season from the Tim's (White, Black and T3) to the Molinar brothers to Justin, Chrystal, Brogan and Iron Eagle as well as the return of veterans Pee Wee and Evan. With the amount of players are getting out to practices and matches there is only one thing the club can do and that is get better with a little more commitment. Enjoy the time off and Holiday season and make sure before January 3rd you make a stop in Oz to pick up what you need
for the second half of the season.
John K - 12/15/11MAVERICKS - 41 FRISCO GRIFFINS - 5
Dr Pink Field, Frisco, TX - November 19, 2011
The Mavericks headed up the Dallas North Tollway to take on the Griffins at Dr Pink Field next to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. After a few friendlies this was the first cup match in almost a month and the club was looking to get over the .500 mark with a win.
The Mavericks received to start the match and were going against a pretty strong wind which along with some good defense early made it hard to get out of the Griffins end of the field. A handful of Griffin infractions at the break down due to a lot of new guys, and the wind momentarily dying down allowed Daniel Garcia to boot a nice 40M clearing kick that found touch near the Griffin 22. Following another Griffin breakdown infraction along with a not 10 on a quick tap, the ball was 15m out in front of the posts where Thunder slotted it through for an early lead at the 10 minute mark. The Mavericks took the ensuing kick of and moved the ball down the field only to turn it over 10m out as we outran our support and were called for holding on. The forwards played pretty well as they ran hard and met the Griffins forwards at the gain line time and time again. Their play paid off as Ronnie Bailey had a nice break through their forwards, offloaded to Ray Greer in support who got to the outside, stiff armed their wing and went untouched the last 15m to put the Mavericks up by 8 at the 22 minute mark. The Griffins got possession after the kick off and put pressure on the Mavericks 5m out but after multiple phases and solid defense their discipline broke down at the break down and were called for hands in the ruck. The forwards not only played well in open play but dominated the scrum as well with a few stolen hooks and a handful of scrums driven back. How do you tell if your scrum is dominant? Have your line out whistled for not straight and the opposing side chooses to take another line out in extremely windy conditions as opposed to a scrum. It was after one of those dominant scrums just inside our 22 where the ball was spun wide, Thunder slid into the back line from Fullback, drew in the their wing and fed Adam Smith who got past their fullback and outraced the cover support the last 60m. The in support out of breath Thunder made the conversion with just over 5 minutes left in the half. The Griffins applied some pressure but couldn't get inside the maverick 22 and another stolen hook and kick (not throw, see Denton match) to touch brought the first half to an end.
Half Time Mavericks - 15 Griffins - 0
With the strong wind out of the southwest pretty much to their backs, the plan was for the Mavericks to play the 2nd half in the Frisco end. One would think that this would not have to be brought up as it's a no brainer, but wait the brain is involved. The kick off however was made to the northwest instead of northeast to maximize the effect of the wind. In a post match conversation with the self anointed Maverick MVP (Most Vain Player) Daniel he said that he didn't trust his boot to kick it that direction. Huhhhh??? Luckily his kick stayed in play but play was stopped at that first breakdown as Evan Dietz took one to the brow whose blood would have stirred the Twighlighters into a Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney frenzy. His replacement, Tim Carr was on the far side of the field playing water boy with Joe Kelly since our other one failed to bring enough of the "Quality H20". He left Joe hanging with the jug and dashed onto the field to chants of Water Boy, only Tim didn't seem as dumb as Bobby Buche. That was until he screamed to the sideline for someone to get his helmet. Helmet? Really? He's probably like those announcers who call any pile up or scuffle in football a scrum. Those aren't scrums and your so called helmet is a scrum cap, Timmy. So with his short bus head gear in place and forwards rucking away in open play, the MVP picked up and went 15m down the sideline to extend the lead to 20 at 46 minutes. Evan was back on from the blood bin shortly after MVP's try and Timmy was back on the bench with a juice box and gold fish. MVP was at it again with a quick tap and an extremely horrible pass to Kris Minyard on the wing which had a "Two Hands Drop" written all over it, but he managed to coral it and raced 25m untouched and the bonus point. Thunder's conversion from out wide left was good as that wind out of the southwest helped him along. With the Mavericks looking to be squarely in control Brent Bonenfant was carded for a late hit/shoulder barge with about 20 minutes left. The Griffins were now inside the Maverick 22 but another good defensive stand and turnover ball, Thunder with that southwest wind behind him booted a 60m clearing kick that found touch after a bounce or two. The Griffins quickly countered and got to the Maverick 15 where an infraction at the breakdown led to a quick tap that was spun wide, which they scored in the corner. During the next Maverick possession the Griffin Fly Half who was the recipient of the late hit earlier tackled the MVP by picking him up parallel to the ground and driving him down which usually results in at least a yellow but since the MVP popped right up and tried to quick tap but the referee blew it up, talked to the offender and gave a regular penalty. We still don't know if he tried to quick tap to hide his pain or he felt the need to run fast and have the wind blow through his hair. I guess we'll never know. Now the Griffins were still getting pinged at the breakdown, the Mavericks were more intent on taps as opposed to kicking for touch to work the line out and maul or call for a scrum since were dominating. And for those who are scratching their head, yes choosing a scrum is an option off a penalty or a free kick (aka short arm) penalty. The Mavericks continued with the pressure in the Griffin end and another tap penalty led to a try by Philip Ordonez from 10m out with 5 minutes to play and at full time Evan charged down a clearing kick at the 5 that Thunder scooped up to close out the scoring. Defensively it was a major improvement over the DARC match from a few weeks earlier, as the tackling was much improved after Michael's lambasting the arm waiving, patty cake tackling. Still too many dropped balls in the back line and don't feel that we used the wind enough in the 2nd half or the other penalty options. Overall we played well and need to play like that and finish strong in our two December matches before the holiday break.
Final Score Mavericks - 41 Griffins - 5
John K. - 11/24/11 MAVERICKS - 46 DENTON - 8
Prairie Park Grand Prairie, TX - October 22, 2011
The Mavericks were looking to bounce back from a loss a two weeks earlier and get into the win column as they hosted Denton in a Cup Match at Prairie Park. With the influx of new guys this season with almost all of them having no experience we were counting on the Rookies to give Denton Bloody Hell this windy afternoon.
The Mavericks kicked-off deep which Denton failed to field cleanly allowing the Mavericks to gain possession inside the 22. A handful of phases later found Sway on outside against a wing who he ran over near the goal line but knocked it on when grounding it. That missed opportunity could have set the tone quick but instead it took almost another 20 minutes for the Mavericks to get another opportunity but even then missed out again as Daniel Garcia's penalty kick 10M left of the posts from 22M out was wide left at the 24 minute mark. That didn't deter the rookies as Phillip Ordonez who used the left side of his head to stop a Denton banger. Tim (Black Tim) Wright came in as a Blood Sub until Philip could get patched up and his wound was eventually treated after the match with an application of Cyanoacrylate by Dr. O'Connell. With the blood now rushing through their veins (pun intended? you be the judge) the Mavericks pinned Denton deep where Brent Bonenfant fielded a low line drive clearing kick 20M out and countered to the 5 where after a handful of pick and drives Tim (White Tim) Carr was able to score with just over 10 minutes left in the half just left of the posts but Daniel's kick was once again wide left. With a handful of scoring opportunities missed the Mavericks were able to add a try at the half time hooter as multiphase forward ball freed up Daniel to score on the left from 10m out which he was able to center and make the conversion.
Half Time Mavericks - 12 Denton - 0
As with the start of the second half two weeks ago we failed to field the kick-off which Denton took advantage by gaining possession and camped out on the 5 for the next few minutes but a great defensive stand and Denton's desire to bang rather than spin missed an overload on the outside. They eventually lost possession, which the Mavericks knocked on at the 22. We were then whistled for a wheel at the ensuing scrum which was converted to get Denton on the board at the 44 minute mark. With the wind somewhat at their backs the Mavericks worked to play in Denton's end of the field, which finally paid off as Snots took dirty ball off the back of a Denton 4 man line out on the 5 to score untouched for a converted try to extend the lead to 16 at the 54 minute mark. Not to be outdone by a back, rookie 2nd Row Justin Hayes used all his head to blow up a ruck and keeping with the theme and Halloween approaching it looked like someone took an axe to his head but nothing that 8 staples at Care Now couldn't cure. The Maverick pack had a good day driving the scrum which lead to a few 90 degree restarts and trouble for Denton's 8 and 9. With just over 20 minutes left the scrum work paid off as the ball popped out of a Denton put in that Daniel scooped up 35M out and with flanker Evan Dietz in support decided to not pass to score to extend the lead to 21 as his conversion was no good but he did make good in the 65th minute with a penalty kick from 15m out in front. The Mavericks continued to play hard when shortly after the PK Ray Greer got the ball off the back of a ruck, made a wonderful dummy, ran another 20m, drew in the fullback and made a perfect pass to 2 Hands on the outside.... The Mavericks were able to add 3 tries in the last 10 minutes as Daniel (5M pick up off scrum), Brent (25M off of open play) and 2 Hands (55m run down the sideline) were able to dot down before Denton closed out the scoring with a try in the corner at full time as the Mavericks defense tired, which really shouldn't have been the case based on how much walking was done during the match particularly by the forwards not that the backs weren't offenders at times.
Final Score Mavericks - 46 Denton - 8
John K. - 11/24/11 FORT SILL GUNNERS - 24 MAVERICKS - 17
Prairie Park Grand Prairie, TX - October 8, 2011
The Mavericks started the 2011-2012 Cup Season by hosting the Fort Sill Gunners on yet another windy Saturday at Prairie Park. The players took heed and were kitted up and ready to go when the side was announced at 1:00PM which was great to see with hopes that it would carry over onto the pitch for 80 minutes.
The Mavericks kicked-off against the wind and proceeded to put some good defensive pressure on the Gunners. The Mavericks had some good early possession inside the Fort Sill half of the field and were able to capitalize on it when Thunder made a nice break from 20 out, but was stopped short with the loose ball being scooped by Philip Ordonez from a few meters out for a try at the 11 minute mark. Pee Wee's conversion hung in the wind and never had a chance. The Gunners countered with some good running from their forwards to break into Maverick territory and after an off-sides penalty had a shot for points from just over 40 out but the kick came up short even with the wind. The Mavericks missed out on some good opportunities as there was an abundance of dropped or horrible passes. With just over 10 minutes left in the half, the backs finally got their act together and a nice 40m run and pass sequence by LBL and Philip freed up Adam for the last 10m on the outside to dot it down in the corner. Wee Man's conversion was wide left. The Gunners with their forwards pounding the ball played a good part of the last few minutes of the half in the Mavericks end where the defense was playing well and it looked like we would be heading into the break up by 10. The Mavericks were able to get the ball back around their own 10 but knocked it on and there would be one more scrum before the half time whistle sounded. The Mavericks stole the put and it looked like the 10 point lead would remain intact if it weren't for one of the biggest bone headed plays in Maverick Rugby history. It probably gets Thunder off the hook for not finding touch against Shreveport back in 2002. Eight Man Ray picks up off the back of the scrum and throws, not runs or kicks, but throws the ball out of bounds. To make a short story shorter Posey quick taps, we get called for off-sides, he quick taps again and scores.
Half Time Mavericks - 10 Gunners - 5
If the end of the first half wasn't bad enough the second half sure didn't start any better. We somehow managed not to field the kick off that the Gunners recovered, ran a few phases and aided by two Maverick infractions scored on a set penalty play that was converted to take a 2 point lead less than 2 minutes into the second half. The Mavericks quickly countered by moving the ball 50m or so with some nice back line play only to have it go all for naught with another knock on. With the wind at our back in the second half the coaches plan was to play the game in the Gunners end of the field and capitalize on the pressure defense which had been very good so far but we either didn't kick into the space or kicked directly into touch. The Mavericks kept up the pressure on the Gunners in their end and it eventually paid off. After a stolen scrum Thunder was able to split through a pair of Gunners from 15m out to score under the posts which Pee Wee converted for a 5 point lead at the 57 minute mark. Due to the poor kicking and decisions like skip passes from 10 to the wing (see initial comment about wind) and not one pass and loop all day kept the match pretty much between the 10's for almost he remainder of the match. The Mavericks got a break on a Gunner infraction right smack in the middle of the field with 7 minutes left but rather than kick for touch and pin them in their own end, team captain Daniel decided to quick tap where he picked up about 10 meters or so but lost possession as he had no support because you KICK FOR TOUCH in that situation. The Mavericks kept up the pressure and a high panic kick by Fort Sill took a handful of unlucky bounces until their wing finally scooped it up and raced 50m to score under the posts with less than 5 minutes left to put them up by 2. The Mavericks did not give up and the Gunners were whistled for off-sides at full time. Pee Wee's kick from about 25m out on the 15 was short and wide right but the Gunners clearing kick did not find touch. (Could it be the ghost of Thunder's infamous kick coming back to help us.) The Mavericks attacked over the next couple of minutes but the passing and all let us down and their wing once again managed to find a loose ball to score under the posts. However, we lucked out as they missed the conversion so we walked away with 1 bonus point instead of the 4 or 5 points we should have had.
Final Score Gunners - 24 Mavericks - 17
John K. - 11/24/11
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