Glad to hear it. Flyhalfs get all the chicks anyways, or so I am told! If you get a chance some time, check out Stepehn Larkham, the Australian flyhalf, in the 1999 RWC semifinals against South Africa. I think I have a video of it somewhere. He played a superb game and then hit a drop goal in extra time for the win. For those that aren't familiar with rugby, it was a play that was along the lines of Lorenzo Charles' dunk to beat Houston in the '83 NCAA tournament...
Here is the press release from our weekend for anyone that is interested...
Buckeyes fall into gear with victories over Pitt
9/25/04 - University of Pittsburgh
The Buckeyes traveled to the University of Pittsburgh this past weekend in their first round of Midwest Pool Play. The importance of winning this game was stressed continuously at practice the week prior. The A side opened up strongly with an immediate drive down the field resulting in a lineout in favor of the Buckeyes. Ohio State mauled the lineout further into Panther territory resulting in the ball spun wide to center Alex Moller who was able to cross the try line two minutes into the game to put Ohio State up 5-0. Fifteen minutes later senior hooker and All American standout Kevin Peterson pummeled two defenders and fought his way into the try zone to put five more points on the board for the Buckeyes. Shortly after rookie Tom Herderick, younger brother to veteran Ed Herderick raced down the touchline off a stolen Pitt scrum to give OSU a 15-0 lead. Captain Conor Malloy rambled off a lineout and gave a dummy pass to stall a Pitt defender and put him over the try line. Despite head coach Tom Rooney’s insistence that the score was 0-0, the scoreboard showed the Buckeyes with a 22-0 lead over Pitt at half. Two minutes into the second half Zimbabwean native Tonderai Kambarami was able to complete a drop kick to allow the Buckeyes to pull away 25-0. Tonderai performed the same feat thirteen minutes later. Despite a rallying cry from the Panthers, Ohio State continued their smash-nose style of play with Chris Mieczkowski setting up 8-man Mike Adler who burst into the try zone to give Ohio State a 33-0 lead over Pitt. A controversial try by Pitt ended the game with the Buckeyes over Pittsburgh 33-7.
1) Z. Houston 2) K. Peterson (G. Gallagher @ 55) 3) C. Malloy 4) K. Norris 5) M. Bubenik 6) C. Bleakmore 7) J. Wittenberg (K. Wensink @ 67) 8) J. Legros ( M. Adler @ 29-blood sub) 9) C. McKay 10) T. Kambarami 11) N. Bell 12) C. Mieczkowski 13) A. Moller 14) D. Olson 15) T. Herderick (D. Panik @ 67)
Tries: A. Moller (1) K. Peterson (1) T. Herderick (1) C. Malloy (1) M. Adler (1)
Pens: 0
Cons: T. Herderick (1)
Drop Kicks: T. Kambarami (2)
The B-side continued the same fast paced style of play that the A side used to dismantle their opponent. A punishing run five minutes into the game by flanker Kevin Wensink allowed lock Aaron Bell to use his strength to push the ball through a wall of defenders. The Buckeyes were aided with the efforts of flyhalf Dean Panik who set up tries for Dave Hegarty, Ed Herderick, Casey Schoonover, and Mike Adler. For their efforts the B-side was rewarded with a 34-0 victory.
An untested C side was able to continue the same streak the other sides had with a 19-0 victory over the Panthers. Junior hooker Mike Mastroberti was able to set up 2 tries for rookie Creamer of Westerville.
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