GREENWOOD - The Lander Men's Rugby team dropped thier fall regular season finale on Saturday afternoon to nationally-ranked NC State by a score of 41-6 at New Res Field
Lander had very little momentum in the first 20 minutes of the match allowing NC State to build a 12-0 lead. Then the defense settled in for the Bearcats and they kept the Wolfpack at bay for much of the first half. The visitors were able to score a converted try late in the first half, but the home team could get points on the last play of the half with a
Brad McCaslan penalty kick. The score at the half was 19-3.
The second half was off to a better start than the first but in the 52nd minute NC State scored an unconverted try to extend their lead. The Bearcats were able to control most of the possession, but couldn't turn it into points most of the second half. It wasn't until the 75th minute that the Wolfpack scored again, with a converted try, while Lander had a player in the sin bin. Once again on the last play of the half, McCaslan converted a penalty kick to make the final score 41-6 for the Wolfpack.
Coach Billings had this to say after the match. "I'm proud of our men, they played hard until the end. NC State showed why they have such a high national ranking, the were skilled, had a good game plan, and played a physical match with big guys. Despite their being a good team, we made them work for everything they got and our men showed a lot even in defeat. I wish we could've sent our seniors out with a win.
Eric Burkett (Irmo, S.C.),
Konnor Richardson, & our captain,
Blaine Tomas (Greenwood, S.C.) are great rugby players and fine young men, we'll miss their impact, but they leave us better than they found us. Along with our seniors, a few players had very good matches today. McCaslan is consistently improving and gave a great performance today, along with
Jacob Dawkins at center,
Cleon Payne (Charlotte, N.C.) made a big impact on the front row, and
Ethan Syswerda probably had the highest work rate on the day, lastly
Zachary Banks (Pickens, S.C.) had an impact late as a finisher as well. We have a young team and they made progress with each match, I'm excited to see their continued development and future success."
Next up for the team is a possible bowl bid with a TBD Southeastern Rugby Conference opponent on Dec 2nd in Greer, SC. If they don't receive the bid, they'll be idle till the 7s season in the Winter/Spring.
