This past Saturday the boys from Illinois state traveled up to Ann Arbor to face off against the Wolverines on the Mitchell Turf Field. The weather was sunny and clear though still a bit chilly at the time of kickoff.
The first half was a dominating performance by ISU. They were able to use their superior size and aggression to run hard against the Wolverines as well dominate in the rucks and win counter rucks. The boys in blue were having a hard time maintaining ball possession for more than a few phases This was especially a trial for a lot of new players considering the 15s side was also missing some of their largest players to injuries. The start roughest part of the match but as it went on and the wolverines were looking better and better. Justin Malin was able to get some points on the board in the first half with a penalty kick on par with that Joel Conzelmann. By the time the half came around the score was 3-43 in ISU’s favor. The Wolverines were down, but definitely not out.
The second half saw a few changes in personnel from both sides a shift in performance by Michigan. After ISU scored a couple more tries, Tomer Chen gets an excellent interception and runs 60 meters to dot the ball down in the corner of the try zone. A conversion could not be made by Ron Marine who, intimidated by the angle, moved the ball waaaaaaaay too far back to try and correct for it. The sideline applauded and jeered him for his efforts regardless. Michigan plays some solid defense for the next 20 minutes to keep ISU out of the try zone and after from strong runs by Brian Chu, Kyle Gruebaw punches another in. The Wolverines keeps ISU from getting any more points for the rest of the game and the final score is 13-55 ISU. An important thing to notice is that in second half scoring the Wolverines only lost to ISU 10-12.
Next Saturday the fist round of BIG10 7s will be held at Mitchell Field in Ann Arbor and 12 teams will be participating. Following the tournament the Michigan 15s side will face off against Calvin College looking to settle a score from fall season. There are no admission prices and there will be plenty going on, we hope to see you there!
