ELSAH, ILL. -- This was an amazing game of intensity and very fast play. With only three minutes gone on the clock, Principia found themselves attacking the SLU 30 yard line when we were awarded a penalty kick. The captains decided to have
Trevor Marunde attempt a field goal for three points. The distance and angle were difficult and he barely missed the kick. In the back and forth of the play, SLU kicked the ball and a Thunder Chicken jumped up to catch it. He was then illegally tackled in the air, giving us another penalty which we opened another opportunity for Trevor to earn the team three points. He made the kick which gave us a 3-0 lead only five minutes into the game.
For the next ten minutes The Principia ruggers controlled the play of the game with very good offensive sequences, keeping the ball in the SLU half of the field. At the eighteen minute mark SLU had a very good turn over and were able to attack into our 22 meter area. After very good counter-rucking by the Thunder Chickens, we were able to steal the ball back and get a good clearing kick.
The next twenty minutes of the game were exhilarating! Twenty-three minutes into the game
Trevor Marunde made a precision chip kick, our backs followed the kick and regained possession of the ball. We were able to ruck 5 times in a row successfully and continued the attack deep into the SLU half. Unfortunately we knocked the ball on and SLU had a scrum to stop our attack. The game flowed with enormous intensity up and down the field and at the twenty-seven minute mark we gained a turnover and were awarded a penalty kick. We chose to kick for touch and play the line-out. After winning the lineout we had incredibly crisp backs movement with
Tyler Marunde passing to
Jordan Anderson who made a fifty meter break away. SLU's defense was able to catch him just short of the goal line and prevent us from scoring. The referee gave us a scrum on their five yard line which we won easily.
Principia attacked with several good runs, each resulting in a ruck. It appeared we had a little bit of “white line fever” and turned over the ball, which resulted in a scrum. Just after the thirty minute mark SLU was able to keep the ball and kick it clear for touch. We won this line-out and attacked with an amazing break away by
Trevor Marunde who passed to his older brother
Tyler Marunde who finished the play with the first try of the game! This gave us an 8-0 lead with Trevor to attempt the conversion. The kick was wide to the right, leaving the score at 8-0 heading into the last seven minutes of the half.
Shortly after SLU kicked off to Principia, we kicked the ball out of bounds giving SLU a line-out. Due to their throw not being straight, the referee awarded us a scrum. We had a big push, got the ball out quickly, which allowed
Trevor Marunde to sell a great dummy pass and make another great break away. SLU's good defense prevented us from scoring, however, and we headed into the half with an 8-0 lead.
The second half started off with just as much intensity and passion as the first half. Just three minutes in, the Thunder Chickens were awarded a penalty. The kick was not as good as we would have liked, and SLU was able to gain possession. We tackled hard, formed a good ruck and stole the ball back. In our attack SLU was able to tackle us out of bounds and get the line-out. From there SLU played very well but knocked the ball on, awarding us a scrum. From the continuous attacking play after the scrum,
Kevin Marczi had a great run. Again the SLU defense stopped us from scoring and the game went up and down the field with turnovers in the tackles and rucks. SLU had several good attacks over the next few minutes and we aggressively defended the goal line with everything we had. At thirteen minutes into the half they had a line-out just five yards from our goal line. They won the throw and attacked with three back to back rucks. Due to our forceful tackling and rucking, we caused a turnover and the referee gave us a scrum. Another dominant scrum from the Principia forwards gave us a good clean ball which was passed to
Tyler Marunde who proceeded to step around their flankers and made a great run. As he was about to get tackled he made a nice pass to Kendall Shoemake who was about to break free and run, when he dropped the ball. From the scrum, SLU attacked and kicked the ball into our end of the field. The ball rolled into the in-goal and was touched down by the Thunder Chickens, awarding us a 22-drop-kick.
From the drop kick SLU attacked aggressively and earned back to back penalty kicks inside our twenty-two meter area. We defended the goal line incredibly well preventing them from scoring. At twenty minutes into the half, SLU was awarded a scrum on our five meter line; because the ball was in our goal area, but was not grounded. From this five meter scrum, they attacked intelligently to the left, broke our tackle line and scored their first points of the game. SLU converted their kick which put the score at 8-7. (This team beat Principia last year by nearly fifty points.)
At twenty-five minutes in SLU had attacked our goal line again which resulted in us being awarded another 22 drop-kick. When we attempted the kick, two tall SLU players blocked it which gave their team a great attacking opportunity. A couple missed tackles by Principia allowed SLU to penetrate the defense and score another try near the far corner of the field. They missed the conversion which held the score at 8-12. The rest of the game was a remarkable battle up and down the field with the Thunder Chickens doing everything they could to earn back the lead and the win. We were awarded penalties, stole balls in the rucks, and maintained good control of all our scrums. No matter how hard we tried, SLU was determined not to lose to Principia College.
The Thunder Chickens were heartbroken to lose, but knowing they lost to one of last year's Sweet 16 teams by less than one try, they kept their chins held high and took solace in their achievement. Facts which enabled them to understand their success was the previous points' victories by SLU against Rolla and Wash U this year.
As their coach it is amazing to see the outstanding progress we have made in such a short time, in skills, intellectual understanding of the game, and strength of character. We look forward to the rest of the season with optimism.
