Blacksburg RFC News:
12 April 2008: Blacksburg Playoff Run Ends at Jersey Shore
Blacksburg ended their Spring 2007-2008 campaign on the road, falling 22-10 to Jersey Shore in the Men's Division III Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union Quarterfinals. The loss marked Blacksburg's first defeat of the spring and ended a nine-match winning streak extending back to early October of 2007.
Coming off a long trip to the Atlantic City region, Blacksburg was greeted by stormy conditions, but the damp weather failed to slow down the intensity of the match. Both sides made gains in the first half, but a penalty and an unconverted try to Jersey Shore left Blacksburg on the wrong side of an 8-0 scoreline at half. An early second-half penalty goal from fullback Matt Rea brought the score to 8-3, but Blacksburg struggled to get across the whitewash for most of the match. Jersey Shore was content to give away long-arm penalties like handbills throughout the second half, but consistently stiffened at the try line to turn away a determined Blacksburg attack. Jersey Shore picked up two more converted tries to build an insurmountable lead before inside center John Pulli crashed through a crowd of defenders for a well-earned consolation try converted by halfback Kurt Goddard. Full-time came shortly thereafter, leaving Blacksburg's campaign at an end. Player-coach Chuck Rockwell praised his side for their resolve in the losing effort and named Pulli man of the match to reward his particularly brave performance.
Jersey Shore will meet Virginia RFC in the territorial semifinals on 19 April in Harrisburg, PA, with the winner advancing to the territorial grand final the following day at the same venue to play the winner of a Harrisburg v. Old Gaelic semifinal.
Blacksburg thanks its sponsors and supporters for helping to make 2007-08 a great year. Training will resume with touch rugby at Blacksburg's "Rose Garden" oval, and preparations for a summer 7s fixture list are in progress.
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5 April 2008: Blacksburg Returns from Tennessee Victorious
Blacksburg headed down the Interstate highway to Johnson City, Tennessee, and picked up a 29-0 win in the club's final match before the Men's Divison III Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Quarterfinals. Ironing out a few final wrinkles before the territorial knockout matches, Blacksburg spread the scoring around with two tries from the forward pack and three from the backline. Scott Tison, who split time at fullback and wing before stepping aside to make way for reinforcements midway through the second half, earned his second man of the match award of Spring 2008 by crossing the whitewash twice and orchestrating more than a few fine counterattacks. Blacksburg thanks Johnson City for hosting the match, and will now gear up for a final week of training before a heading to Jersey Shore for a must-win encounter. |
28 March 2008: Friday Night Scrimmage Productive
Blacksburg had the opportunity to take part in its own version of "Friday Night Footy" with a scrimmage match graciously hosted by the Virginia Tech RFC on the Virginia Tech campus. Featuring abbrevated halves and unlimited open interchanges, the exhibition was a chance for both sides to prepare for challenges to come: a Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Quarterfinal Match in New Jersey for Blacksburg, and the inaugural Atlantic Coast Invitational Tournament in Chapel Hill, NC, for Virginia Tech.
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Both clubs ran out the majority of their first-side players for the first half, and the match got off to a cracking start immediately. A pair of wide tries from VT earned them a narrow 10-5 lead by the oranges interval. Although a close competition was afoot, both sides kept the developmental nature of the scrimmage in mind and substituted liberally at the half. The large-scale personnel changes crueled VT's production somewhat, as the modifed Blacksburg side was able to get more done against the VT reserves in the second stanza to come away with a 37-17 win. Blacksburg Coach Chuck Rockwell named newly minted fullback Jeff Drake man of the match for reliable play and great decisions at the back of the formation.
Blacksburg is extremely grateful to Virginia Tech for the opportunity to play a fun local derby, and wishes the collegiate side the best on its upcoming trip to Chapel Hill, NC. |
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22 March 2008: Blacksburg Picks up Experience at Tourney
Thanks to the planning and hospitality of Dan River RFC, Blacksburg enjoyed a beautiful rugby-filled day at Dan River's one-day "RuggerRoast" tournament event. Given that a number of Blacksburg's regular starters from recent matches were not available for the trip, Blacksburg made the trip with a lean side (17 players) but made the most of the opportunity to get all traveling players a lot of match time.
In their first match of the day, BRFC was able to overcome some ordinary handling early on to best the hosts 60-14. Given that there were only four sides at the event, that win put Blacksburg in the tourney's grand final against Roanoke RFC, who won their earlier match against Southern Pines. Although Blacksburg scraped together only a 12-7 lead at the interval, things opened up for the BRFC crew in the second stanza and a strong second half saw them through to a 27-7 win. Fullback Scott Tison and Wing Noah Thrope snatched up man of the match recognition for keen play in attack and defense, including some scintillating open-play tries. Certainly, though, the big triumph of the day was the opportunity for Blacksburg to get every available player at least a full match on the day while also exploring a few positional combinations not previously seen.
Many thanks to Dan River RFC for their great work as hosts, as well as to all of the other tourney participants for a tremendous Saturday. |
19 March 2008: Donate to Longwood in Lost Player's Memory
 Longwood Rugby and the rugby union community are mourning the loss of Todd Miller, a Longwood player who passed away 9 March after suffering a head wound in a match 1 March.
The Longwood side is raising money to support an enduring scholarship in Miller's memory. Merchandise sales will be conducted via Ebay at a time to be announced in the future. In the meantime, Longwood Rugby welcomes donations, which can be made via the secure online funds transfer service PayPal--send money to the Paypal account rugby1952@gmail.com to donate. |
8 March 2008: Blacksburg Undaunted by Mud, Snow, and Roanoke
Despite somewhat uncooperative weather, Blacksburg was able to get on the move enough to dispatch Roanoke RFC by a 41-26 scoreline. Center John Pulli earned man of the match honors for his characteristically hard-nosed play in attack and defense. Loose forward Nate Gaertner was also commended by player/coach Chuck Rockwell for a strong performance. Thanks to Roanoke RFC for an intense match, and to The London Underground Pub for hosting a great post-match social event. |
1 March 2008: Blacksburg Keeps Try Line Intact in 2008 Opener
Blacksburg RFC opened their Spring 2008 fixtures with a 70-0 decision over visitors Blackwater RFC at their home oval. Congratulations go to second row player Ty Hopkins, Blacksburg's man of the match, as well as to the Blackwater RFC for an extremely affable fixture. A post-match social event was held at sponsoring venue The London Underground Pub--it wasn't pretty. |
16 February 2008: Spring 2008 Training Begins
After a few weeks of informal touch rugby sessions, BRFC training began in earnest Saturday, 16 February. Training for the season will be typically held at 5:00 p.m. Thursday and 1:00 p.m. Saturday, with some Tuesday sessions during weeks featuring matches.
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27 October 2007: Blacksburg Earns Place in 2008 Mid-Atlantic Knockout Rounds
Blacksburg RFC withstood a late comeback from Virginia Beach RFC to escape the away fixture with a 24-14 in their last fixture of the Fall 2007 season. This win leaves Blacksburg second in the Fall 2007 Virginia Rugby Union Senior Men's Division III standings, ensuring them a berth in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union's territorial Playoff Rounds. |
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