By: Milton Greenstreet
The Severn River Men’s 2021 7s season was a strange one. It was the first competitive action for the boys in blue and green for 15 months, due to Covid-19. Along with keeping them off the field, the pandemic also shook up the squad in the personnel department.
Longtime Head Coach Dave Egar returned permanently to his native Ireland with his family during the shutdown, leaving the men looking for leadership. Club founders and SR Hall of Fame members Mike Posko & Pete Freeman stepped into fill the void. On the field, there has been quite a bit of change over as well. Veterans have departed and new players have arrived; it’s been quite a turbulent time for Annapolis’ top rugby club.
The 7s campaign looked to be snake-bitten from the jump, as Captain Erik “Punchy” Dronberger fell to an ankle injury in the first game of the first tournament in Harrisburg, PA. He soldiered on through the day’s games but had to call it quits for the short season due to the ankle issue. Severn was led through the day in Harrisburg by the Navy Rugby contingent of Ted Chapman and Rickey Neel-Feller. The gentlemen from the academy joined Severn for the summer and added some much-needed poise to the lineup. The team went 2-1 in pool play, including a 29-0 thrashing of perennial MAC 7s contender, Schuykill River’s 2nd side. The boys ended up falling 0-23 to Oasis in the quarterfinals, Oasis would go on to win the tournament.
Battlefield 7s in Manassas was the next stop for Severn River 7s. The day started brightly with a convincing 24-12 win over former D2 rivals, Richmond RFC, but that was the high point of the day. Three losses followed, including a loss in the 5th place match to the recently beaten Richmond. The bright spots on this Saturday were the dynamic offensive performances by center Mike “Butters” Gibson and pack stalwart, Steve Long. The men found the score sheet often but couldn’t convert it to figures in the win column.
Downingtown 7s, outside of Philadelphia, was the nadir of the 7s season. The boys came up winless and finished last in the tournament. The lone bright spot was interim 7s skipper, Milton Greenstreet, bringing his kicking boots and going 5/5 from the drop. Severn brought an inexperienced bunch and lost key squad members John Sage and Butters Gibson to injury early. Regular starters, Rich Maldonado and Omar Ledezma, kept spirits high in between the tough matches with all kinds of shenanigans under the team tent.
Last on the docket was the Rites of Summer 7s tournament hosted just outside of Baltimore. Severn had a strong showing from both the men’s and women’s sides. Former club captain Colin Gotimer’s return to action provided a shot in the arm for the fellas, scoring 3 tries on the day from the wing. The men went 2-2 for the day and with an impressive point differential, and were able to nab 2nd place in the social division. They were held from silverware by a nail-biting 12-0 loss (with some questionable forward pass calls) to Towson Alumni, who won the division undefeated on the day.
Given the oddity of the pandemic season an impromptu 7s awards banquet was held, deep in the caverns beneath American Legion post 175. Omar Ledezma and rookie sensation Parker Hackett received a few team spirit awards. Women’s team fixture, Hope Wasserman, was honored for her efforts in helping the boys at each tournament from the coaches’ bench. Butters Gibson and Mike “Nips” Nichols, took home Top Scorer and Rookie of the Year, respectively. MVP of the 7s season went to prop Steve Long; Steve started nearly every match of the season and led from the front on both sides of the ball with some bone crushing hits, as well as 6 visits to the try zone.
The Severn River boys desperately await their return to 15s, which will happen at home on 9/11/21 vs former D3 rivals Western Suburbs. The boys will look to build on their experiences from the summer to erect a successful fall campaign that leads to playoff action in the spring. We hope to see you out for all of our matches! Thanks for your support!
