NMT Rugby in Surprise 26-26 Draw

SOCORRO, N.M., Feb. 23, 2004 -- When the final whistle went in Saturday's (Feb. 21, 2004) rugby match between New Mexico Highlands' "Vatos" and host New Mexico Tech, the Pygmies thought they'd just squeaked home, 28-26.

The mistaken sighs of relief first came with the missed conversion kick attempt by Highlands' John Collier with just seconds remaining, which Tech's unofficial scorer marked as a two-point difference in favor of the Pygmies.

When the referee's official time subsequently expired, it was revealed that the first of Tech's four conversion kick attempts was also judged "not good", resulting in a tied match at 26 apiece, and Tech's rueful disappointment.

Regardless of score, it was without doubt an evenly contested match, a classic battle of contrasting styles. Whereas the Highlands team accomplished more with their set of seven backs, particularly their inside combination of James Kennedy and the outstanding center Collier, Tech's forwards held the ascendancy amongst the eight forwards. The Tech pack, led by man of the match freshman Phillip Turner, held a slight edge in the scrummage restarts and a decided advantage in the lineouts, where another freshman, Taylor Dotson, soared high to grab numerous inbounds throws. Also outstanding among the Socorro forwards were Dotson's twin brother Tom, flanker Matt Majors, prop David Yazzie, and as per usual, team captain Mark Kelly. T.J. Evans, Dean Freidline, and Duncan Langlois also provided key backup support.

In the first half, Tech held a slight advantage through a breeze blowing down and across Sarracino Middle School Field, substituted to accommodate the New Mexico Science Olympiad on Tech's athletic ground. After misfiring a few times, Tech's flyhalf Robert Harrison's kicking foot finally found the gap in the visitors' deep defense, and a well-placed kick transformed proceedings from a fearsome but inconclusive clash of opposing forwards into a case of Highlands desperately trying to keep Tech out of their try zone. Following a Vato penalty 15 yards out, a tap-and-run resulted in scrumhalf Paul Quintana diving over the line to give Tech a five-point lead after 26 minutes. The conversion kick by Pat Simons, taken from a position almost directly in front of the goal posts, looked good and was assumed so by the Tech camp, most of whom apparently overlooked the official judgment of "not good" made by the referee.

Four minutes later, after another Harrison kick had moved play to the NMHU end, Tech's veteran strongman David Yazzie scored with a typical smashing run, and this time there was no doubt about Simons's kick.

Tech now seemed to go off the boil, and Highlands capitalized twice in the remaining five minutes of the half, with two mesmerizing runs by inside center John Collier, who converted both tries for a 14-12 halftime lead.

The second half opened with NMHU pressing, but an exciting kick-and-chase led by Tech's Pat Simons and Mike Bauer took action down to the opposite end, where play paused for a scrum. The ball was put in by Highlands but squirted out the side of the scrum, and alert flank forward Matt Majors had picked up and scored before most of the other 15 forwards knew the scrum was over. Simons's conversion took Tech into a 19-12 lead.

A Pat Simons try at approximately 25 minutes stretched the lead to 26-12, and on came three Tech reserve players. In hindsight this was a premature move, creating an experience gap between NMT's backline and NMHU's Collier and Co.

As the minutes waned, the Vatos furiously went about filling this gap, with first Marco Dios Dalgo and then Collier collecting tries against the outmanned Pygmy backs. Collier connected with the first conversion to cut Tech's lead to 26-19, and just before full time lined up to convert his own try and set up the confusing end to this match. Final result: missed kick, drawn match, 26-all.

The Pygmies, a Division II collegiate club, next head to Albuquerque for a Saturday match against the Brujos Rugby Club, and on Sunday will face the reserve team of the U.S. Air Force Academy, who are the defending Division I collegiate national champions.

-NMT-