Tech Ruggers Spank Brujos 31-12

The New Mexico Tech Rugby Club got back on the winning track in Albuquerque, on Saturday, Feb. 26, by beating the Brujos Rugby Club 31-12. The Pygmies unleashed an outside running attack their heavier foes could not match, as all five of Tech’s tries were touched down by backline players. The Socorro side lost last weekend to a tough El Paso Scorpion team, 14-5, and will face Western State College of Gunnison, Colorado at home this Saturday.

Co-captain Patrick Simons, playing at outside center, started things off for Tech just three and a half minutes after the opening kickoff when he sidestepped his opposite number and sprinted 45 yards to score between the uprights. It was an apt return for the speedy and powerful back after missing the El Paso match to attend a wedding. Uncharacteristically, Simons missed the conversion kick, but Tech had a 5-0 lead.

Tech looked quicker in controlling most of the ball possession for the next five minutes, and the pressure paid off when the ball was passed wide to Justin Monroe on the wing. The speedy Monroe, returning to the Pygmy fold following three semesters of concentrated academics, remembered what to do with the oval and legged it half the length of the pitch to score. Simons’s aim was true this time and the Pygmies went out 12-0.

For the Brujos, the best strategy was repeated short runs straight up the field by their large forwards. The challenge for their younger counterparts was in making tackles until they could hawk the ball for scrumhalf Seth Daly to pass out to flyhalf Rob Harrison, who waited to boot it down the field for his fleet outside backs to chase down. Following one such kick-and-chase which forced the Brujos into a lineout (inbounds throw), a handling miscue by their backs left the ball bouncing free for Tech center Matt Nelson to scoop up and carry untouched into the try zone. The kick was missed but Tech took a 19-nil lead into halftime.

Tech substituted liberally during the five-minute intermission to provide playing time for more of their large contingent, and at the sound of the restart whistle picked up where they’d left off. After five minutes fullback Tory Tadano fielded a high kick at his own 25-yard line and made a nice run through the covering defense before enabling left wing Ivan Mecimore to show his speed over the remaining 50 yards. Following the Simons kick Tech held a commanding 24-0 lead.

Less than three minutes later, Simons contributed to the rout from a scrum at midfield. Taking the pass from Harrison, he ran through one tackle and then wove his way through the secondary defense, breaking clear with 20 yards to go. Spying David Yazzie sprinting in support, the captain generously flipped the ball for the big flanker to touch down. Simons had no trouble with the conversion kick directly in front of the posts.

With a 31-0 lead, the Pygmies now went off the boil, allowing the Brujos to reclaim an aura of respectability. They took advantage with tries by scrumhalf Christophe Sanchez and flanker Elliott Salgado, converting one to close scoring at NMT 31, Brujos 12.

In a 30-minute "third half" played for the benefit of the less-experienced players, a very green Pygmy side, employing the same kick-and-chase strategy as the first-teamers, surprised onlookers by scoring 19 points on three tries while shutting out a more experienced Brujos fifteen. Mike Bauer, deputized into unfamiliar territory at flyhalf, scampered for a long-distance try converted with a drop-kick by Josh Hanson. Soon after Hanson, also known as Nick Fritz, again put his boot to good use when he deftly chipped over the defense and recollected the ball on a dead run. After a 40-yard run Fritz shoveled cleanly to a streaking Matt Nelson who finished between the posts for another converted try. Pablo Garibay scored Tech's final try with a fine open-field run, putting the finishing touch on a big scoring day for Tech's stable of dangerous backline players.

New Mexico Tech entertains Western State College of Gunnison, Colorado this Saturday, March 5, in a first-ever meeting between the two sides. Kickoff will be at 1:00 on the New Mexico Tech athletic ground.