Week 4 of Instersquad 7s Brings Balance to The Standings

On Friday, February 6th, your favorite squad of ruggers had their fourth round of the intersquad 7s tournament, and the playoffs are drawing ever nearer. This week put Ross, The Mary Sues, and Duderstadt battling for first place with point differential, andJones just trailing in 4th.

Mary Sue Coleman 26 Vs. Ross 19

Bitter from the loss last time these two met, Mary Sue put in some hard effort to get a win back from Ross, who was missing some key players due to injury.

Mary Sues kickoff to start the game and win the ball back within the first 20 seconds after scooping up a knocked on ball by Ross. The Sues only have 30 meters to go and try to pound in the ball to get some yards with good support on the Rucks. Nick (Bronx) Fehrman passes the ball from the ruck to Luke Mallery, who gets a half break by sidestepping his defender before getting wrapped up by another. As he is going down Bronx calls for the ball behind him, and Luke gives a fantastical falling one handed offload. Bronx slips between the gap in the defense to run the last 15 meters and draw first blood. Conversion by Tohy Rakatovololona is good, Sue Krew leads (7-0). Tohy kicks off again for Sues and the ball bounces around off the ground and ruggers’ legs as they try to scoop up the object neccessary to get points until Chening Duker uses his long arms to secure possession. Joel Conzelmann gets the ball in hand and shoots for the sideline and pick ups some needed meters before being cut off by Tohy sweeping at the back. Joel pulls up and passes to Duker who gets a small break but gets brought down by his feet 35 meters from the try line. Austin Girelli passes the ball out to Rob Dunne, but he drifts toward the sideline and Bronx Fehrman is able to push him out of bounds. Ross and the Sue Krew battle it out until Sequyoah got a big break from a tap and go off of a penalty, Tohy gets the ball several phases later and makes it over the tryline after being tackled, but the sir blew the whistle for a double move and Ross gets a break. Joel kicks for touch and there is a lineout at midfield. However Ross gets a penalty for not throwing straight, leading to a scrum to Sues, but Ross gets penalized in the scrum giving the Sue Krew a free kick, and Tohy doesn’t hesitate to do a quick tap and go to catch Ross offguard, and he runs 40 meters to the try zone. Tohy converts, Sues continue to lead (14-0). As the final seconds of the first half ticked down, Ross did not want to end the first half without an answer. Sues kick off to Ross, and once again the ball bounces around as ruggers frantically try to get their mits until Chening gets is again. Chening immediately shoots through a gap in the defense and makes its just 20 meters from the try zone until he is cutoff by Tohy. Not deterred, Chening once again uses his superior arm length to fend off Tohy and escape his tackle, but Tohy’s efforts were enough to slow Chening down enough to let him get wrapped up by Bronx and stop him from crossing the line. Ross has good support though, and moves the ball across the field in a couple phases before getting it to BANG MENG Shi on the wing, who runs through a gap in the defense and gets a 10 meter try in the middle. Conversion by Conzelmann is good, end of first half (14-7).

Just before the initial kickoff of the second half, a nice belch can be heard from behind the camera. That belch was not nearly as nice as the cutback Tohy had off of the first pass, when he used his blinding speed to run against the grain of Ross’ defense and sneak around the edge, tiptoeing on the white line and breaking 50 meters to get an early try for Sues. His conversion is good, Sues wrack up more points, (21-7). The brutality would not end there though, with an allegedly Bronchitis stricken Juan Aguirre picking up a tumbling ball that came out of the ruck and landed at his feet. Juan ran around the ruck and finds a gap,throwing out a stiff arm along the way and secures another try for the Sue Krew. Conversion kick goes wide, Sues still lead (26-7). The Sues win back their following kickoff and battle with Ross in their own end for a minute before Chening DUker gets a poach and runs straight ahead to break through the Sues defensive line and run 80 meters for a try. Joel rushes up to kick the conversion with time running low but doesn’t even stop before the kick and botches it, barely getting it 5 feet off the ground. Sues still lead (26-12). Ross and Sues battle it out for the next minute and a half, attempting kicks and moving the ball sideline to sideline, but Joel Conzelmann scores off a lineout from midfield, throwing out some nasty jukes along the way, scoring with 10 seconds left on the clock, enough to have one more play to try to win. Joel’s Conversion is good, Ross catching up (26-19). Off the final kick, Sue Krew goes for one phase to secure ball possession before kicking it out. Sue defeats Ross (26-19)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDFLWxxROlg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZHTHovFqNw

Oosterbaan 0 vs. Duderstadt 45

The Dudes start this match with some excellent ball movement on the field, patiently waiting for a gap to open up until Andre Cargill finds it. Cargill hits the gap, switches with Cooper Smart, who gets some meters then offloads to John Palladino who gets tackled 15 meters later. John pops the ball back up to Cooper from the floor, who quickly flicks it wide to Guy (Buddy) Burke. Buddy Burke throws out a dummy pass to fakeout the defense and open up a gap, which he hits with speed and scores a try for The Dudes. Conversion kick by Buddy Burke hits the post but stillo goes in, Dudes lead (0-7). Dudes win back their own following kickoff, and after a few blundering moments with ball posession, move it wide again to Andre Cargill, who uses his speed to score again. Conversion by Cargill is good, Dudes lead (0-14). The battle continues in Oosterbaan’s end and Oosterbaan kills themselves with knockons until John gets the ball off of a scrum, passes to Cargill and loops around him, and Cargill passes to John again on the wing who scores for the Dudes. The sir gets up nice and close to blow the whistle to make sure John knows he has both scored the try and made the conversion, Dudes lead (0-21). A lineout to the Dudes a minute later would result in another try for Cargill, who makes a break around the edge but does not make the conversion from the corner. Dudes lead (0-26). There was no mercy from the Dudes on the following kickoff when Oosterbaan secures possession but only makes 2 passes before Nate Fisher intercepts the 3rd to score for The Dudes again, Fish fails to make the conversion, Dudes winning (0-31). The Dudes got a lineout at the sound of the horn for the first half, and had some nice breaks and ball movement from all members of the team until John Palladino dotted it down in the middle. Conversion is good, Dudes win first half (0-38).

Oosterbaan played stronger defense in the first half than we saw in the first, not letting The Dudes score until halfway through the second half after Jesee Fenno took the ball to the 3 meter line and popped it up to Cargill who just made it over the line.Conversion good,  Dudes winning (0-45). Dudes score again a minute later when Oosterbaan knocks the ball on, and Jesse Fenno makes a break down the middle for 60 meters two passes from the scrum. Only a minute later and the game ends, Dudes win (0-45).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRDPPmNKXG0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5sxcWqndrs

Jones 12 vs. Canham 7

The first score of the first half came in after 3 minutes. Canham fought hard and moved the ball down field with some good breaks and maintained possesion from Jones. Chening Duker (A Ross player substituting for the shorthanded Canham) got a pass from the scrumhalf after a scrum on Jones’ 5 meter line, and Chening slid and juked his way into the try zone. Conversion is good, Canham leading (0-7). With a couple minutes remaining in the well fought first half, Canham gets a penalty for not releasing just 10 meter from Jones’ try line. Retro Zack Burns does a quick tap and go, running a bit too sideways but getting some meters nonetheless then passes to Ben Clemens. Clemens shoots down the sideline with nothing in front of him but astro turf, but Chening Duker gets an angle on him and tackles Clemens out of bounds just 1 meter short of a try. Cole Van Harn offers Clemens some solid coaching by yelling at him to “run faster” from the sideline. When the horn sounds for the end of the first half, a ball floats out the back of a Jones ruck, and Chening Duker runs up and kicks it downfield from the ground to get it away from Jones hands. Retros burns gives chase though and catches Duker when he bends over to pick up the ball. Retro Burns makes contact and strips the ball from Duker. Retro tries to offload the ball while he is wrapped up, but it gets knocked on and the first half ends. Canham leads (0-7).

Canham nearly gets an early try in the second half, with some excellent one handed offloads and passes from the floor getting Disco Drew Vecchio with superior size and ball in hand just 7 meters from the try zone, but once again just as he is about to get in Retro Burns strips it from his hands and the sir calls a knockon. Canham wins the ball back, but Jones steals it from them on a poach. After several phases of not being able to get the ball out of their own end, Matt Kasten (Kat Masten?) goes for a chip kick and chases. However, Kat Masten forgot to take the fact that he was playing in Oosterbaan into account, and the ball goes up and its trapped in the abyss that is the netting hanging from the ceiling. Jeers and insults are yelled to Kasten from sidelines as the young ruggers are upset with losing a good ball to the OosterGods. The sir rules a lineout should follow. Jones wins back the lineout and Retro Burns goes for another kick, lower than the last one. Kat Masten chases and gets it off of a favorable bounce. Kasten throws out a spin move and a couple jukes to separate himself from the Canham defense that chased, then passes to Retro Burns. Burns jukes left, waves the ball one handed over his head to confuse the defense, which worked for some reason, and just gets the ball over the line as he gets tackled. Conversion goes wide, Jones catching up (5-7). Retro Burns does it again just a minute and a half later, slipping through the Canham line while holding the ball one handed over head and running 50 meters for a try. Conversion is good, Jones now in the lead (12-7). The final horn sounds 30 seconds after the following kickoff, and Jones kicks it out of bounds. Jones wins (12-7).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYS4VmaEBSM

Oosterbaan 0 vs. Mary Sue Coleman 22

Mary Sues score a minute in with Tohy Rakatovololololololona slipping through Oosterbaan’s defensive line with his signature speed and steps to gets 5 points for the Sues. Conversion is short, Sues lead (0-5). Jeremy Parks gets a huge 60 meter break off of the following kickoff, but Tohy tackles him out of bounds. Sues are awarded a penalty, and Mike Shay does a quick tap and passes to Juan Aguirre. Juan eats up some meters and ties up some defenders with his zigzagging steps then offloads to Tohy. Tohy gets a half break and as he gets pulled down backwards, he flings the ball one handed to the sideline, where it goes right into the hands of Mike Shay who runs the remaining 30 meters to dot down for the Sues. Shay tries to take the conversion, it does not go well. Sues lead (0-10). Oosterbaan gets a nice small break from Jon Bain, but when he tries to offload to Brian Chu the ball gets bobbled up into the air. Luke Mallery catches it and runs around the Oosterbaan defense before juking Ron Marine in the last few meters to get the points. Alex Carson helps Mallery up with a manly grip and a pat on the back. Conversion is good, Sues winning (0-17). In the last play of the first half, Tohy gets the ball out of the scrum and runs diagonally across the field. Looked like he was going to be stopped by Ron Marine and Ryan McDonough before he could reach the try zone, but Tohy dished a nasty switch to Luke Mallery, who ran hard and got the try. Conversion kick doesnt make it, SueKrew winning the first half (0-17).

The first 3 minutes and 45 seconds of the second half was made up of constant lineout and scrums for both teams, much to the chagrin of the forwards I am sure. Finally Sequoyah Combes picks the ball up out of a ruck and runs through the unprotected weakside with ease, but gets tackled by Ron Marine just 2 meters from the try line. Jackson Wagner was running in support though, and Sequoyah pops it up to him from the ground immediately, and Wagner gets a try with swag-ner. Conversion falls short, Mary Sues winning (0-22). Tomer Chen gets a nice break off of the following kickoff, but Sequoyah chases him down and punches the ball out of his hands on the tackle. On the very last play of the game was the real heart breaker. Jon Bain gets the ball on his own 15 meter line, runs left, then cuts back to the right and finds a gap on the sideline. Mike Shay chases him down and almost gets him out of bounds, but Bain throws a one handed offload to the trailing Golden Eagle some know as Ryan McDonough, which lands pefectly in his majestic wings. Golden Eagle made it all the way into the tryzone untouched, but carries it in one handed. Then somehow, by the grace of satan, he just knocked it on. He just knocked it forward, in the tryzone, with nobody even touching him. It was the most confusing thing I had ever seen. Oosterbaan loses with zero points, (0-22).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ZAGGv6m5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Y4tD8myio

Ross 12 vs. Canham 5

This game started with an excellent try from Canham. Disco Drew Vecchio caught the kickoff and charged forward, forcing defenders to close in on him to bring down his large frame. Before hitting the floor, Disco Drew offloads to Jeremy (Dozer) Reid. Dozer throws out a stiffarm and breaks the line, plowing through the field ahead of him and just makes it into the try zone with Ross nipping at his heels.Conversion goes wide left, Canham takes an early lead (0-5). The rest of the first half contained endless painful knockons from both teams and other various penalties, both teams barely giving themselves a chance to make anything of any opportunities they had. First half ends (0-5).

Canham almost scores one minute into the first half, but get called back for a penalty. Several penalties later in Ross’ end, Austin Girelli pulls the ball out of the scrum and gets a big break as he runs to the sideline. At the 35 meter line he offloads to Chening Duker. Duker gives out his standard jukes and stiff arms and makes it all the way to the 5 meter line, but it brought down by Ron Marine. Fortunately for Ross, Girelli ran in support after his offload, and Duker tossed it up to him from the ground, and Austin Girelli touches the ball down in a power pose. Conversion goes wide. Ross ties it up (5-5). Ross kept it in Canham’s ends for the next couple of minutes, but Canham managed to keep them out of their try zone. That was until Bang Meng Shi got the ball on the edge with just seconds remaining in the second half. Bang Meng breaks wide and is brough down by Brian Chu just before the try line, but Meng pops right back up and runs into the middle of the tryzone to touch the ball down. Conversion is good, and Ross gets the lead (12-5). The game ends and Ross gets the victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPERkk2X4cs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDCsc3SqhAE

Jones 24 vs Duderstadt 14

One minute into the game, Matias Ferro gets a solid break down the sideline after a wild pass from the middle by Alex (mud) Hummel, but gets brought down from behding by John Palladino. Dudes poach but get called for diving over. Jones take a quick tap and go, and Matt Kasten runs through a gap after an uneven defensive push by the Dudes. Conversion goes wide, Jones lead (5-0). Jones keeps up the pressure and keeps The Dudes stuck in their own end until Cooper Smart runs the ball and opens up a gap to make a 60 meter break. However Retro Burns at sweeper cut him off and stopped him short, and Jones played some nice makeup defense to stop The Dudes. The game went back and forth with Dudes having more possession time, but Jones playing excellent defense to shut them down. The Dudes finally get a try when Nate Fisher gets a ball on the wing and breaks around the outside to run 50 meters for a try. Conversion is good, Dudes take the lead (5-7). The following kickoff was the last play of the first half, and Jones makes good use of it. Kat Masten catches the ball and slips through the Dudes defense with his signature speed and slipperyness to score with Andre Cargill hot on his heels. Conversion is good, Jones take the lead back (12-7).

The first try of the second half came from Cooper Smart, after Nick (Biscuit) Azzopardi got a poach and passed it wide to Smart. Smart broke down the sideline and touched the ball down in the middle to get the lead back for The Dudes. Conversion is good, Dudes winning (12-14). Jones would answer again with mud Hummel breaking a tackle and offloading to Retro Burns. Burns broke all the way down the field with Cargill on his heels, but he makes the 50 meter run to the try zone. Conversion falls short, Jones back in the lead (17-14). Jones get the ball back a minute later and Retro Burns does some more classic over head ball waving and somehow manages to break a tackle and then get a break down the side line. Then 15 meters out he throw the ball Tom Brady style to Kasten who gets it into the try zone. Conversion is good, Jones pulling away (24-14). Dudes would also respond quickly with a huge break by Andre Cargill who gets stopped 15 meters from the try zone. John Palladino takes it in and then Jesse Fenno crosses the line in a dive but the ball comes out of his hands in mid air, resulting in a knockon and no points. Time runs out and Jones kicks it out of bounds. Jones wins (24-14).

Standings: