By Andrew Isbell
Contributing
Writer
MEMPHIS -- The Middle Tennessee State rugby team traveled
down to the University of Memphis on Feb. 4 and came out victorious by a score
of 37-5.
The
Moosemen started the game slow but steady and proved dominance over the ball. In
the fall semester, the MTSU Moosemen ended with a record of 4-0 and picked up
right where they left off. There had to be a change in leadership, and the team
elected a new captain in Mason Hubbard. The first game of the semester, it was
expected for the Moosemen to be a little rusty and out of shape, but that was
not the case this time around.
During the Christmas break, the team was held responsible
for their conditioning by weekly sessions on three out of five days of the
week. It proved to be the X-factor in this game as Memphis died down in the
second half, and that is when MTSU exploited the weakness. Twenty-two of the 37 points were scored in
the second half.
“You could tell in the second half who has been
conditioning and who hasn’t,” starting lock and Motlow State Community College
student Deshun Richardson said. “The field was a big problem because it was
just hard dirt, and I couldn’t keep traction at all.”
The field was not in ideal condition. It was hard, and
the little grass that was there did not soften the fall. I heard multiple
players before the game make negative comments about the field. The field may
not have been up to par, but the crowd made up for it. The crowd filled up the
sideline and made themselves known. Everybody except for a select few were on
the side of Memphis. MTSU did a great job at keeping the crowd out of the game
and not letting them become a factor.
Another factor that could have affected the Moosemen was
that Head Coach Jody Hensley was not present. The assistant coaches took full
responsibility and had the players executing the game plan to a tee. Despite
all the possible factors that could have ruined the day for MTSU, they were not
rattled.
Naturally the game got physical. When asking Captain
Mason Hubbard about it, he said, “I just kept making sure everyone kept their
cool. When anything got chippy, I made sure to step in between it and calm down
our players.”
The one minor problem the Moosemen had were the points
after tries. After scoring seven tries, MTSU only made one PAT.
MTSU will take on Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. Feb. 11 in
Murfreesboro. It will be a rematch of last semester when MTSU beat GT, 62-0.
The Moosemen will look to stay undefeated and keep their aim on the division
championship.
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