Pygmies Stumble on Way to Santa Fe Championship

by Dave Wheelock, NMT Rugby Director

Good Sports: Members of the New Mexico State and New Mexico Tech rugby teams gather following NMSU's championship win at the Santa Fe Tens Tournament. (Click for bigger photo.)

SOCORRO, N.M., Sept. 4, 2007 -- Things looked good Sunday (Sept. 2, 2007) for New Mexico Tech Rugby Club's Pygmies. In their first outing of the year they had dispatched their first three opponents by convincing scores. At halftime of the championship match of the Labor Day Santa Fe Tens Tournament, they held a 14-0 lead over a team they had beaten earlier in the day. And then, it all went horribly wrong, leaving Tech five points adrift of an exuberant New Mexico State squad.

New Mexico Tech officially entered one ten-man Pygmy team, with a 15-man roster, in the tournament's collegiate bracket, while combining the services of 10 other, less experienced players with a veteran group from the host Santa Fe Rugby Club. This second team, playing under the name "Santa Fe B," managed one win during the day at the expense of the University of New Mexico "B" side. UNM, who placed 12th nationally last year in Collegiate Division One, competed in the open club side division of the tournament.

Left: "Where is it?" Referee Fred Yarger and New Mexico Tech Rugby Club's Steve Graves, Nick Falcone, and Jay Herrera (9).

In the Pygmies' opening match with UNM's "B" team, Tech opened a 12-0 halftime lead on tries by co-captain Jay Herrera and Matt Nelson before exploding for 21 second-half points to finish ahead, 33-0. Royce Beaudry legged in two long-range tries, on either side of Tory Tadano's touchdown. Nelson kicked four of five two-point conversions.

Tech next came away with a well-deserved 17-10 win over perennial rivals New Mexico State University, whose Chiles have provided many a challenging match for Tech over more than 30 years. State held a narrow 10-7 lead at the half on two unconverted tries against Herrera's one, converted by Nelson. In the second half Tech, bolstered by a rampaging group of forwards, put two textbook tries on the board, first by Britt Catron and then Herrera.

The Pygmies found themselves challenged by some of their young NMT teammates as they faced Santa Fe B in their third match. The combined Santa Fe/Tech team had put together a win over the San Juan Silverbacks of Farmington, NM in their second match. The Pygmies seemingly hit their stride in this match, winning 40-0 on two tries from co-captain Matt Majors and one each from Tadano, Nelson, Herrera, and James Fallt. Ominously, Majors had to withdraw from the day's action with a hamstring pull following his long second run. Matt Nelson was good on five of six conversion kicks.

In the afternoon championship played under cool and cloudy skies, New Mexico Tech once again faced New Mexico State, who had dispatched the Duke City Dragons to qualify.

Five minutes into a skilled and entertaining display of college rugby, Tory Tadano broke away to score between the posts for Tech. Nelson's kick was true. Just before halftime Nelson reversed field to take a pass before unloading to Herrera for the scrumhalf's fifth try of the day. Nelson converted and Tech took a 14-point lead into the two-minute halftime break.

Right: Feeling Pain. Joe Roebuck of NMSU suffers a leg cramp after scoring the winning try in the championship of the Santa Fe Tens Tournament. New Mexico Tech ruggers feel a different kind of pain. Nick McCarthy, Jay Herrera (9), Dylan Merrigan, Cody McFarland (8), James Fallt, and Nick Falcone are in shock after leading throughout the match.

Tech continued their assault in the second half with an impressive passing attack. But as they closed in on State's line, the Chiles' inside center intercepted a Herrera pass and streaked the length of the field for an unconverted try. Two minutes later the Pygmies botched a pass on a free kick and the Chiles went to work, finishing with a converted try to trim Tech's lead to 14-12. The Pygmies suddenly seemed out of rhythm and unable to maintain ball possession. Two minutes from full time, the Chiles scrumhalf finally found a gap in an overworked Tech defense and bolted through for a try between the posts. The easy conversion put State ahead 19-14. A long run by James Fallt with seconds remaining nearly brought Tech back from the brink, but the match ended as the flying winger was taken out of bounds by the last NMSU defender.

Jay Herrera was named to the all-tournament team representing women's, men's, and collegiate divisions. High school teams from Gallup, Los Alamos, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe also competed. New Mexico Tech will visit Albuquerque's Brujos, a men's club team, Saturday September 8 at 2 p.m. at St. Pius field.

-NMT-