Tech Rugby Rally Falls Short in Las Cruces

by Dave Wheelock, rugby coach

Feb. 9, 2004 -- In renewal of a 30-year cross-state rugby rivalry, New Mexico State University withstood a second-half rally by visiting New Mexico Tech to record a 27-17 victory Saturday, Feb. 7, in Las Cruces. In a game of two halves, State monopolized play in the first stanza, while Tech outscored their rivals 17-5 over the final 40 minutes.

Under ideal weather conditions, Tech struck first after five minutes of play when junior center and co-captain Patrick Simons picked up where he left off last fall, plowing through two tacklers and racing 30 meters to touch down. He then booted the conversion to put his team up, 7-0.

NMSU captain Jaime Jinosa replied with a five-point try on an intercepted pass after eight minutes, setting up an easy conversion kick to knot the scores. Tech's backline was repeatedly guilty of poor ball handling that kept them from mounting a real threat, and turnovers played into State's hands. At the 20-minute point Tech lost the ball in a tackle and an alert Chile defender went on the attack to score in the corner. The kick was not successful and the score stood at 12-7, NMSU.

Play continued in fits and starts as both teams committed their share of season-opening miscues. After 33 minutes Tech was whistled for illegal use of hands and former Pygmy Chris Foss slotted a penalty kick to give State a 15-7 lead. Two minutes before the 40-minute halftime whistle, NMSU were awarded a scrum on Tech's five-meter line. Although the Pygmies held their ground in the shove for the ball, State came away with possession and after a short run of play grounded the ball between the posts to set up a converted try, and the teams traded ends of the field on a 22-7 Chile lead.

New Mexico State appeared to have their upriver opponents at their mercy as the second half got underway, using their dominance in the in-bounds lineouts as platforms for dangerous runs by both backs and forwards. After 10 minutes of play NMSU's big inside center crashed through several arm tackles to score a try that went unconverted that nevertheless took State to a seemingly-untouchable 27-7 lead, and Tech heads appeared to bow somewhat with nearly 30 minutes of play to go.

While their play continued on the sloppy side, the Pygmies battled on, and stymied the hosts the rest of the way. Halfway through the half, inspirational captain Mark Kelly Tech registered his team's continued presence with a short range try in heavy traffic and the score appeared a little more respectable at 27-12. Ten minutes from full time the ball was kicked into NMSU's try zone and could not be handled by the defending fullback, leaving Tech's flying winger Mike Bauer to pounce on it for the try. The difficult angle prevented a successful conversion kick, but Tech was within 10 at 27-17.

The Chiles awakened from their slumber to quell the uprising over the final ten minutes, and play was whistled up with Tech camped on their opponents' end of the field.

In a somewhat brighter postscript for Tech, six first-season players shone brightly in a "third half" staged for the benefit of the reserves. Four backline players (Alejandro Gauna, Sage LaTorra, Josh Hanson, and Alex Myers) and two forwards (Matt Masten, Dean Freidline) took advantage of their first taste of match action to show their growing proficiency in the fundamentals of rugby, much to the delight of their teammates. Also worthy of note was the play of freshman Tom Dotson of Farmington Hills, Michigan, who in his first day of rugby joined up with twin brother Taylor at the lock position in the "A" match. Tech "man of the match" honors for the varsity game were shared by Mark Kelly and hooker T.J. Evans, for their high work rate and leadership.

New Mexico Tech's athletic grounds have been preempted for the New Mexico Science Olympiad on February 21, necessitating the relocation of the NMT vs. Highlands University match scheduled for that day to be played at Sarracino Middle School. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

-NMT-