CALEDONIA, Mich. - Davenport played against Indiana University for their third match of the 15's season on September 17th. The final score against the Hoosiers was 29-8 resulting in Davenport's next win of the season, leaving them undefeated at 3-0. The first ten minutes of the first half were the trickiest part of the entire game. Neither team seemed to have an advantage, and both teams were hard-hitting and strong contenders. The first individual to put points on the board and create the advantage was Mat De Villiers with a penalty kick scoring three points, followed by the first try of the game by Enrique Carmona. Indiana University had quick ball skills along with their ability to recover mistakes, but it was no match to Davenport's defensive strides and their strategic plays. Lineouts were won a majority of the time by our Panthers, and scrums had the most power we've seen this season. By halftime the score was only 10-3 leaving DU with a lot of opportunities to get more ahead on points, or IU to catch up. The second half of this rugby match was filled with intensity to say the least. Davenport had no option but to continue their winning streak this weekend, and they proved that they were up to the challenge. One of the hardest parts of rugby games is countering kicks effectively and De Villiers and Sean Nolan did just that. Their ability to counter the ball no matter the situation was what really helped in setting Davenport apart. Noteworthy breaks were made by both Takunda Makiwa and Matt Kelly, along with Maris Kurti's strength in the rucks. The end result of this game was no surprise considering their ability to rise to the challenge, and defeat their opponents.
Scoring Breakdown for Davenport v. Indiana
Matt Kelly - 2 tries (10 points)
Enrique Carmona - 1 try (5 points)
Alessandro Mares - 1 try (5 points)
Sean Nolan - 1 conversion (2 points)
Mathew De Villiers - 1 penalty kick and 2 conversions (7 points)
Next week our Davenport Men's Rugby team takes on Iowa Central Community College on Saturday, September 24th at Davenport's Turf Field. Kickoff will be at 4:00 PM.
Story by: Taylor Badal
