After two matches in the MAC D3 Central, Severn River Men found themselves atop the table with 2 wins.    Saturday, they headed west to visit their Triebel Cup comrade rivals Frederick.  From the whistle the match didn’t disappoint, with both teams trying to find their feet, strong runs by Quinn and Aldo gave Severn River the edge.  Then 5 minutes into the game, Eddie Boyer smashed his way past the gain line and sped his way 50 meters to touch down under the posts to put Severn up 0-7 after a conversion.

A tone was set, but Severn River didn’t keep the foot on the pedal, and a well placed kick brought Frederick back into the match.  7-7 after 15 minutes, and Frederick stole momentum.  Sloppy Severn defense and a relentless Frederick attack, gave Frederick the lead at 20 minutes. 

The lead would be short lived, however, as a resilient Severn River side sprung forth on the following kick off.  Lawrence McClain inducing a heavy hit, causing a turn over and Mike Blimmel trucking down the field before Erik Dronberger eased through the retreating Frederick defense for a try.  Another Dronberger conversion and the score was back even. 

With halftime looming, Nick Stratchko came to the rescue with Severn River pinned inside their  own 25 meter, as he stole Frederick’s line out.  Strong rucks from Dustin, Brad and co, allowed Eddie to break the line and set up a pacing Colin Gottimer as he put on some nifty moves past Frederick’s defense before drawing the full back and passing to Mike Gibson on the wing.  Gibson got on his horse and with a determined stride, out ran Frederick’s winger and put Severn River back on top as the half time whistle blew.

HT score: Frederick 14 – Severn River 21

With an inspired speech from Coach Will, the Severn River pack displayed their strength as Blimmel powered his way into the try zone.  On the ensuing play, William Paul caught the kickoff and shrugged off three Frederick defenders then tip toed the sideline to gain 25 meters.  Then Dronberger found a bit of space and after a hop, skip, jump and a spin through the Frederick defense, popped the ball to a hungry Lawrence, who wouldn’t be stopped as he stiff armed his way into the try zone.

The game should’ve been set after that with the score Frederick 14 – Severn River 33, but Frederick wouldn’t let Severn rest easy, scoring two quick tries and bringing the game to within 7. Excellent defense from Brad McCarty and Aldo allowed Severn River to get the ball back and seal the deal with two more tries from Aldo and Eddie.  For some icing on the cake Dronberger added 3 points with a penalty kick. 

FT score:  Frederick 31 – Severn River 48

Tries: Eddie Boyer (2), Erik Dronberger, Mike Gibson, Mike Blimmel, Aldo Batubara, Lawrence McClain.

Conversions: Erik Dronberger - 5/7

Penalty Kicks: Erik Dronberger – 1/1

Severn River Men’s Rugby D3 remain at the top of the table with 15 points from 3 games, just a point ahead of Washington Irish both having played 3 matches and 5 points ahead of rivals Rocky Gorge who have a game in hand in third place.

This week: Severn River D3 is on a bye, while D4 travel to Loudon for the second match of the season this Saturday 9/28.

League Leader Notes

Points

Erik Dronberger – 51, Eddie Boyer – 25, Aldo Batubara – 20, Michael Blimmel – 20

Tries

Eddie Boyer – 5, Mike Blimmel – 4, Aldo Batubara – 4