Men's Rugby Earns Physical Victory Over BYU, 24-14
Men's Rugby / 10.22.22
MARIETTA, Ga. --- The Life University men's rugby team found their advantage on the ruck, pulling away late in a 24-14 contest against D1A foe BYU Saturday afternoon at Lupo Family Field.
The Running Eagles found themselves with a great opportunity to score early, but put the ball on the turf near the try line to turn the ball over and miss out on the opportunity. Coming off the turnover, Life U stopped a Cougar's scrum near their own try area, earning a scrum after a BYU penalty. At the 17:50 mark, the first score of the game was recorded, BYU taking an early 7-0 lead after Life u gave them the ball deep in their own territory. The Running Eagles quickly responded, dominating BYU on the maul to see
Adam Chadwick score the first of his three tries on the day. Crane missed on the conversion, but made up for it just six minutes later at the 28:45 mark when a BYU penalty set him up with a penalty kick opportunity that he struck true to give Life U an 8-7 edge. In the final 10 minutes of the half, a line out led to another Life U maul which again saw try time for Chadwick, Life U taking a 13-7 lead after another missed conversion.
It did not take long into the second half for Life U to again make it to the try area, another maul finishing Chadwick's hat trick for a Life U 18-7 lead. In the 51st minute, the Running Eagle players played strong near the try line, quickly getting to the ball for secure tackles, but BYU finally managed to break through to cut the lead to 18-14. 17 minutes later,
Donovan Law broke a huge run to set the Running Eagles up with good field position, a BYU penalty leading to a Dario Porta Sanchez penalty kick to push the lead to 21-14. In the final three minutes, Porta Sanches gave the Running Eagles enough breathing room to close out the game, another good penalty kick giving the team a 24-14 edge. After the clock had passed the 80th minute with BYU still possessing the ball, Life U blew up a Cougar scrum, taking the ball to end the game.
The Running Eagles play their first Mid-South Conference game next, traveling to Davenport University on November 5 for a 1 PM game.
