GREENWOOD - The Lander Men's Rugby team got their season off to a high-flying start on Saturday as they dominated the Georgia Bulldogs by a final score of 33-7. Lander would open the game scoring 33 straight points as five different Bearcats scored tries across three periods before the Bulldogs would get on the scoreboard
Ethan Richardson would get the scoring started early in the first period paired with a Tomás Mussi conversion to make it 7-0. Hayden Bullwinkle would follow that with a try of his own and another Mussi conversion would make it 14-0 and the Bearcats would not look back from there.
Laureano Petris,
Rolland Muzeya, and
Carey Cortes would each find their way onto the scoresheet as Mussi would convert conversions on two of those three tries to give the Bearcats the 33-0 cushion. The Bulldogs would get on the board early in the final period but the Lander defense was stifling and didn't allow any Georgia threats to reach deep into the offensive zone.
"This was a solid start to our season," said Head Coach
Buck Billings. "UGA has a strong side and they've competed in the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference for many years, and this is a big win for our program in our fourth year of competition. We host UNC Chapel Hill next week and they'll be another tough opponent; the way we controlled this match across all phases is something we will look to build on this week as we prepare for the Tar Heels."
Billings was also complimentary about the large contingent of Bearcat fans who turned out on Saturday afternoon, and the Bearcats rewarded the large crowd with their dominating performance
"It was great to have such a large home crowd and we're glad we gave them a fun match to watch"
The Bearcats will begin conference play this coming Saturday with the aforementioned match with North Carolina. Kick-off for that match is scheduled for 11:00 AM.
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