By: Taylor Badal
HOUSTON, Texas - Davenport Men's Rugby had two games left for the CRAA 7s national tournament on Sunday, May 7. The first game of the day was against Life University, who they had defeated in their previous 15's season. Tensions were high for both teams as it was the fight to move on to the game for first and second place. Davenport started out strong with extreme pressure off the initial kick-off. Life had knocked on the ball allowing the Panthers time to try and capitalize. Although the game wasn't back and forth in points, it was back and forth on offense and defense, with both teams trying to move the ball off of their half and closer to their try lines. Unfortunately, Life was able to really crunch in our defense at times and running the ball hard to start creating advantage. The end of the game was 21-0 to move the Panthers into the third place game.
The sixth and final game for the tournament was for the battle of third place with Army. Despite Davenport's immense effort, they ended up taking fourth place by the final score of 28-0 against the Cadets. Their tremendous effort may have not led to first place this weekend, but they were left with fourth place and the hunger to return next year. Davenport's defensive line and offensive speed significantly gets better each and every game, and there is nothing but promise from here.
Overall Scores for the Tournament:
Game 1: Davenport v. Florida University (30-0) Win
Game 2: Davenport v. Santa Clara University (14-12) Win
Game 3: Davenport v. Arizona University (24-7) Win
Game 4: Davenport v. Central Washington (17-12) Win
Game 5: Davenport v. Life University (21-0) Loss
Game 6: Davenport v. Army West Point (28-0) Loss
The Davenport Men's Rugby team has wrapped up their 2023 7's season in fashion. Placing fourth in the nation is no easy task, and this will only prepare them as a team for the many more seasons to come.
