Fall 2008/Spring 2009 Results and News
Buck's Schedule Spring 2009
| April 4 vs Cedar Rapids | WIN : 25-5 |
| April 11 @ Des Moines | WIN : 20-8 |
| April 18 @ Dubuque Tournament | 2nd Place |
| April 25-26 @ Grand Rapids, MI (MW Playoffs) | WIN : 24-7 |
| May 2-3 @ Iowa Falls (All Iowa Tournament) | 1st Place B Division |
Buck's Schedule Fall 2008
| Sat. Aug. 30 @ UNI (10:30 Kickoff in CF) | |
| Sat. Sept. 6 vs Dubuque | WIN : 32-20 |
| Sat. Sept. 13 @ Cedar Rapids | WIN : 12-0 |
| Sat. Sept. 20 vs Gopher | WIN : 67-0 |
| Sat. Sept. 27 @ Iowa Falls | WIN : 41-7 |
| Sat. Oct. 4 @ Iowa City Ducks | WIN : 44-5 |
| Sat. Oct. 11 vs Pearl City | WIN : 28-0 |
| Sat. Oct. 25 vs Northwest Indiana (Midwest Playoffs) | WIN : 50-7 |
| Sat. Nov. 1 vs Fond du Lac(Midwest Playoffs) | WIN : 29-5 |
Links to the complete Division III Midwest Rugby Union Schedule and Iowa League Standings.
Spring 2009 Pictures Posted
Most of the pictures that I received from this past spring season are finally posted in the Pictures section. Big thanks to Brian and Nikki, and Heather Randall for all the great pictures.
Bucks Conclude Spring Season by Winning the All Iowa Tournament
The Bucks wrapped up their fall season this past weekend when they travelled to Iowa Falls to participate in the All Iowa tournament. Bremer County was in the B Division. The B Division had 8 teams competing in a standard 8-team tournament bracket. The Bucks entered the tournament seeded second as a result of their second place finish in 2008.
Bremer County opened the tournament against UNI. This was an interesting match up because of the close ties between the Bremer County and UNI team. Many of the Bremer County players started their careers playing for UNI, and the Bremer County and UNI teams regularly support each other. Bremer County got off to a slow start. The Bucks claimed an early lead after a Mark Johnson try. The two team went back and forth, and Bremer County went into half time with a small lead. The Bucks cleaned up their game in the second half, and managed to keep the ball in UNI territory for most of the half. Bremer County went on to win 33-19. The game was capped with a try by Llama who got the ball at the 5-meter line with a full head of steam and ran over a UNI player to score.
After a long break, Bremer County's semi-finals match was against the Gentlemen of Dubuque. The Bucks looked much better in their second game. Bremer County dominated the entire match and went on to win 30-8, setting up a finals match against Cedar Rapids. The Bucks had already played and beat the Headhunters twice this spring.
The finals match against Cedar Rapids was played on Sunday. The Bucks once again improved upon their previous performance and showed why they deserved to be champions by dominating the match from start to finish. Among the players scoring points for the Bucks were Ryan Saunders, Tom Harn, and Joe Randall. Saunders was 2 for 2 on kicking penalty goals, and had very impressive, long scoring run. Tom Harn scored a try after the Bucks stole a Cedar Rapids scrum about 15 meters out from the end zone. Finally, Joe Randall scored a drop goal from about 30 meters out late in the second. Bremer County went on to win 30-8. This was the first time since 2004 that the Bucks won the All Iowa Division B title. With their tournament victory, the Bucks will move up the much tougher Division A next year. Taking home the tournament MVP award for the Bucks was Ryan Saunders, who had an all-around stellar weekend, scoring numerous tries and converting on nearly every attempted kick.
The Bucks are now done until league play picks up again next fall. Bremer County finished the spring season 8-1, including a victory at the Midwest Final Four. Their only loss was a 7-5 heart-breaker that come down to the final seconds against Clinton in the finals of the Dubuque tournament. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all of the fans that came out and supported us this season. We hope to see you all again next fall. And continue checking back over the next couple weeks as I get around to posting the large backlog of pictures from this season that I have amassed.
Bremer County Victorious at Midwest Final Four
Last weekend the Bucks made the long trek to Grand Rapids, Michigan to compete in the Midwest Final Four. Despite the 9-hour drive (or in Joe's case, hour-and-a-half flight), the Bucks brought 21 players to Michigan to take on the Fox City Gargoyles, the Wisonsin #2 team. The game against Fox City was on Saturday, and although the day started out well, the weather quickly turned dreadful by around noon with thunderstorms moving into the area. A couple of rain delays pushed the game back about an hour.
Once the game was finally underway, Bremer County got off to an early 7-0 lead after a Jody Fisher try. After 15 minuts, the game was temporarily put on hold while another thunderstorm rolled through. After an hour rain delay, the game was back on. Although Bremer was generally dominating the game, careless penalties kept Fox City in the game, and they managed to tie the score up 7-7 at halftime.
Rain continued to fall throughout the second half of the game creating muddy, slippery playing conditions. However, Bremer County cleaned up their play considerably in the second half and dominated the rest of the game. Ryan Saunders and Mac Stahr both scored tries in the second half to put the game away. Someone else also scored a try, but I can't remember who that was. After Saunders converted 2 of the 4 kicks, Bremer went on to win 24-7 to move onto the which were to be played on Sunday against Lexington who made the finals after defeating Eastern Cleveland Suburbs.
The semifinals victory over Fox City qualified Bremer County for the national tournament, however, due to a scheduling conflict Bremer County would be unable to take a team to national. This put more importance on the 3rd place match because that would be the game that determined the second team representing the Midwest at nationals. Because of the heavy rains on Saturday, half of the games on Sunday had to be cancelled because 2 of the 4 fields were unusable. This led to Bremer County's championship match being cancelled, and the Bucks were not allowed to play for the Midwest championship despite finishing all league matches undefeated. The full bracket can be viewed here.
With the Bucks' victory on Saturday, they will be moving up to Division II next fall competing against teams such as Des Moines and Clinton Muddy River. Although the competition will be a big step up, this is definitely a positive move for a great Bremer County team that has continued to see improvement year after year. The Bucks conclude their spring season this weekend with their annual trip to Iowa Falls for the All Iowa tournament. Also, I still have that huge back log of pictures to put up from just about every game this spring. I have been short on time lately, but they will definitely be up soon, so check back over the next week or two and they will be posted. Now let's go win the All Iowa!
Bucks Finish Second in Dubuque
This past weekend Bremer County traveled to Dubuque to participate in Dubuque's rugby tournament. The tournament was cancelled last year due to flooding. There were six teams in the tourney. The six teams were divided into two three-team pools with the winner of each pool playing in the championship. Bremer County was paired with Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, while the other side was Pearl City, Clinton Muddy River, and Augustana College.
The Bucks opened the day against Dubuque. Bremer County started out slow playing their sloppiest rugby of the spring. At halftime the score was tied up at zero. The Bucks cleaned their game up in the second half to pull out a solid victory. I don't remember the score, but Bremer County scored about 3 or 4 tries.
Immediately after defeating Dubuque, Bremer County had to turn around and play Cedar Rapids. The Bucks once again started out slow, but went into halftime with a slim lead. At the very start of the second half, Cedar Rapids capitalized on a well-placed kick to score a try and take the lead. The Bucks took the lead back off a strong run by Casey Hansen that once again saw him mowing over almost the entire Cedar Rapids team. Bremer County would tack on another try to solidify their victory.
With their two wins in pool play, the Bucks made the championship and they were matched up against Clinton Muddy River, an excellent DII team, who won the other pool. The championship match was very hard fought with a lot of scrums. Both Bremer and Clinton went back and forth but neither side could score on the other. Finally, in the closing moments before the half Bremer managed to score a try, but they missed the kick to go up 5-0. The second half was more of the same, with both teams going back forth but no one able to score. It looked like Bremer County might have had the game locked up, but Clinton refused to give, and on the final play of the game one of the Clinton players broke through Bremer's defense and scored the game-tying try. Muddy River scored the kick to win 7-5. Despite the loss, the championship match was Bremer's strongest match of the day.
This weekend the Bucks will be traveling to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to take on the Fox City Gargoyles in the Midwest Final Four. If the Bucks win the first game on Saturday they will qualify for the national tournament in South Carolina. If the Bucks win the Final Four, they will qualify with the number 1 seed overall on their side of the bracket. Also, thanks to Brian and Nikki, I have TON of pictures from the last couple weeks, but I don't have time to upload them at the moment. Look for them to be posted in the next week or so.
Bucks Continue Win Streak by Beating Des Moines
The Bremer Bucks continued their current winning streak by defeating Des Moine 20-8 this past weekend in the Bucks' second match this spring. Bremer County managed to control most of the match despite battling some questionable calls by the sir and shuffling around a number of players. Honestly, I don't recall who scored when except for one try which was probably the play of the day. The Bucks had a scrum on Des Moines' 5-meter line after one of the Behrends scored a try but it was ruled held up. The Bremeer County pack, led by two Harn brothers and Brian Happel in the front row, drove the Des Moines pack behind their own try line giving Eric Whitcome the go-ahead score at scrum half. He literally just had grab the ball and touch it down uncontested.
With about 10 minutes left in the game, Zeus decided he needed a breather. Not content to simply take a knee and sub out, he decided to go out with a bang by trucking some poor dude on the Des Moines team. In a questionable lifting call, the sir awarded Zeus the first yellow card of his career as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to the Sin Bin for the remainder of the game....I think I can speak for Zeus and say that it was well worth it.
Bremer County continues the spring season this weekend when they travel to Dubuque for a tournament. This weekend will be the last games until Bremer travels to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Midwest Final Four next weekend. If the Bucks continue to play as they have been this spring, they will be a force to be reckoned with in Grand Rapids and possibly beyond. I apologize, but I still do not have any Bucks pictures from this spring yet, so instead please accept this awesome, rugby-ish picture of Keeley Hazell.
Bremer County Defeat Cedar Rapids in Friendly Spring Opener
Bremer County opened the Spring season with a friendly match against the Cedar Rapids Headhunters this past Saturday. Bremer County finished the fall season on top of the Iowa League, with Cedar Rapids finishing second and their only loss coming to the Bucks. Bremer County continued to play the solid rugby that won them the Iowa title in the fall, and defeated the Headhunters 25-5. Because it was not a league match, the game consisted of two 30-minute halves and a third 20-minute half with unlimited subs. Both teams brought solid numbers and rotated in a number of new players. Despite the heavy rotation of players, the Bucks still played very well and showed few signs that this was the first game of the season.
Scoring for the Bucks were Brett Behrends, Jody Fisher, Casey Hansen, Eric Pryor, and Bill Knutson. Brett started the scoring for the Bucks in the first half. Casey scored off a long run where he first ran over half of the Cedar Rapids team, then proceeded to stiff arm the other half one by one. Pryor and Knutson also had scores where they basically carried many Headhunters en-route to scoring. Jody's score may have been the play of the day. Off of a pass that was either long and/or possibly dropped, Jody managed to avoid the knock by kicking the ball down field completely in stride. He proceeded to chase it and score. Another notable stat from from the game: combined punches thrown by both teams was 0. Yeah, I was suprised too.
Bremer County continue their spring season this Saturday when they travel south for a friendly match with Des Moines.
Practice pushed back to March 17
Because of the wet/snowy conditions there will be NO PRACTICE THIS WEEK. We will re-evaluate the field conditions next week, but the plan is to START PRACTICE MARCH 17
Practice Starts March 10
Well, the spring season is finally almost here. Weather permitting, practice will begin March 10, and it will be held every Tuesday and Thursday starting at 6:00 at the pitch. Notice that it says practice STARTS AT 6:00. It doesn't say stroll in at 6:10 and take your time getting on the pitch. Be on time and ready to practice at 6:00! If you have to, pretend that practice starts at 5:30. This is especially important early in the season when it's still getting dark early. We understand that some people will have valid excuses for being late. If that's the case, show up when you can. We are going to put more emphasis on practice attendance, and if you don't practice you won't play. And if you need more motivation than that to show up, we normally have a post-practice at one of the nearby bars and have a couple beers.
In the meantime, everyone should be starting to do some work on their own to get in shape. Go out for a jog, run some sprints, and/or lift weights. Basically, do something active to start getting in shape, and continue it through the season. If you're lost on what to do, I've talked to a number of people that have seen positive results from the CrossFit program. Also, an interesting running workout was posted here by Tom Billups. Tom Billups is regular contributer to RugbyRugby.com and his articles can be found here. I highly recommend reading some of his articles in preparation for the upcoming season. He covers just about all aspects of improving your rugby game. Finally, if you're looking for a lifting program, feel free to send me an email at the bremerbucks@gmail.com address and I can send you something.
Bremer County Bucks Spring 2009 Schedule
| April 4 vs Cedar Rapids | WIN : 25-5 |
| April 11 @ Des Moines | |
| April 18 @ Dubuque Tournament | |
| April 25-26 @ Grand Rapids, MI (MW Playoffs) | |
| May 2-3 @ Iowa Falls (All Iowa Tournament) |
Midwest Final Four Preliminary Details
As most people visiting this site are aware, Bremer County qualified for the Midwest Final Four tournament this spring by finishing undefeated through the fall season. Initially, we thought this was going to be held in Chicago, as it has been in past years. However, we have now learned that the Midwest Final Four is in Grand Rapids, MI, April 25 - 26. The drive to Grand Rapids is approximately 7-8 hours, and the initial plan is to leave the Waverly/Cedar Falls area at noon on Friday April 24. We will discuss these details further at Bucks Night, this Friday, February 13. We play the Wisonsin #2 seed, the Fox City Gargoyles on April 25. We need to win the game against Fox City to qualify for the national round of 16 in South Carolina. In addition to the DIII championships, the DII Championship, and Collegiate Men/Women U23 All Star tourney will be held in the same location that weekend. More information can be found here.
Bucks Night February 13 at Joe's
The annual Bucks Night will take place February 13 at Joe's*. There will be a team meeting at 6:30, and the auction will follow some time later, probably
around 7:30 or 8:00. At the team meeting we will vote on officers, go over our plans for the spring, and um...get drunk. The auction is our primary fundraiser
for the year, so make sure you bring your checkbook and your friends and family with their checkbooks. We auction off some very cool rugby and acohol-related
memorabilia including jerseys, lamps, glass pictures, and lots of other cool stuff. We have a trip to Chicago coming up, and hopefully a trip to South Carolina
after that, so fundraising is especially important this year.
* If you're new to town, Joe's is here.
Bucks Move onto Midwest Final Four in Chicago
Bremer County closed out their fall season this past Saturday when they hosted the Fon du Lac Wolfpac in the second round of the Midwest Playoffs. Both Bremer County and Fon du Lac entered the game with undefeated records, but only one team would still be alive in the playoff race at the end of the day. The game proved to be as exciting as one would expect when two league champions face off.
The first half was very evenly matched. Both teams started off a bit slow, and took a little bit for the gears to really start turning. The game went back and forth, but neither team could manage to punch a score in. With approximately 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Bremer County won a Fon du Lac scrum and drove the ball deep into Wolfpac territory. The Bucks declined a chance to kick for points off a Fon du Lac penalty, and instead chose to go for the try. After tough battle at the try line, Zeus Ramirez managed to drive the ball in the for the try (although if you squinted, you could have mistaken it for a Joe Randall try). At this point, the momentum shifted noticeably toward Bremer County who went into halftime with a 5-0 lead and energy to spare.
The Bucks carried their momentum into the second half, where they continued to dominate the match. The Bucks' back line had an especially strong half. The Fon du Lac back line had a tendency to get sucked inside, and Bremer County exploited this fact by executing numerous kicks, and wide passes to the outside. Bremer County went on to score four tries in the second half. Brett had one, Chips probably had at least one, and Whitcome had one, but I don't remember the order. Brett once again mowed a lone defender en route to his try, and Whitcome once again had a short try off a penalty. I don't remember much about Chips' score(s?) but it had something to do with him being fast and probably kicking the ball, and his performance was good enough to earn him Man of the Match honors. If you have more details on the second half scoring, feel free to contact me. Fon du Lac managed to break one run and put a try in, but it was not enough to overcome a great game played by the Bucks who went on to win with a final score of 29-5.
The Bucks will now enter the off season, but they will continue their Midwest Playoffs run in April when they play the Fox City Gargoyles of Wisconsin in the Midwest Final Four. Fox City finished second in the Wisonsin League behind Fon du Lac. They qualified for the Midwest Final Four by defeating the Headhunters of Cedar Rapids this past weekend. The Final Four will be played in Chicago, and if the Bucks can win both Final Four games they will represent the Midwest Rugby Union in the national tournament in May.
Bucks Advance to Second Round of Midwest Tournament
Bremer County opened up its Midwest Playoffs run this past Saturday when they hosted the Exiles of Northwest Indiana. The Exiles qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in the South Central League. The Bucks beat Northwest Indiana 56-0 in the opening round of the 2007 tournament, but the Bucks were not going to take the Exiles lightly.
The game started with the Exiles kicking off to the Bucks. As has been the trend in many games this season, the Bucks spent much of the beginning of the game deep in their own territory due to costly penalties, and minor mistakes. Despite the poor field position early, the Bucks managed retain control of the match, and Joe Randall managed to break a long run to put the Bucks on the board first (maybe one of Brett's scores came first....I don't know). Brett Behrends tacked on two more runs to give the Bucks a three try lead. Apparently Brett didn't feel he ran over enough Exile players en route to one of his tries, so he slowed up shortly before scoring just to mow the fullback and then proceeded to place the ball. Eric Whitcome also had a try in the first half after a tenacious set of short runs close to the try zone.
Going into halftime, the Bucks shut out Northwest Indiana and had a four try lead. Although it was a comfortable lead, the Bucks couldn't let up the intensity-- and they didn't as they really broke the game open in the second half. New Bucks player (though not new to the game) Mac "Woodchips" Stahr showed his speed by scoring two tries. Later in the second half, Matt Daniels performed a tactical kick with surgeon-like precision into the try zone so that Casey Hansen could beat a couple of Exile players in a foot-race to the ball to score the try. Finally, Travis Behrends scored a try for the Bucks in the second half as well.
All game Bremer County put the heat on Northwest Indiana's deep kick returners and made them think twice about catching the ball. This was most apparent late in the second half when one of the Exiles was about to field the ball and got smoked by Eric Pryor. The Exile fullback chose to let the ball go, but Pryor brought the pain anyway.
Northwest Indiana managed to sneak one score past the Bucks off a penalty late in second half. It wouldn't matter though as the Bucks went on to win with a final score of 50-7. Bremer Count will continue their Midwest Playoffs run this Saturday, November 1, when they host the Fon du Lac Wolfpac. Fon du Lac reached the second round by defeating the Metropolis Killer Bees in the first round of tournament play. This will be an interesting matchup because both Bremer County and Fon du Lac enter the game with undefeated records. However, one loss at this point will be the end of the season for either team. If Bremer County plays the kind of smart, physical rugby that got them to this point they(we) should have no problem advancing to the Midwest Final Four in April.
Bremer Bucks Finish Regular Season Undefeated
The Bremer County Bucks, Waverly's mens rugby team, recently wrapped up its regular season schedule with a victory over Pearl City RFC of Muscatine. The win capped off an undefeated regular season for the Bucks. Bremer County competes in the Iowa League of the Midwest Rugby Union. The Bucks play other mens club rugby teams such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Dubuque. This is the third year in a row that the Bucks have won the Iowa League title. The top two teams in the Iowa League go on to compete in the Midwest Playoffs. The Midwest Playoffs are a 16-team bracket comprised of the top two teams from each League in the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Bucks compete in the Western Conference along with the Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Central Leagues.
The Bucks are no strangers to the post season. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Bucks have qualified for the Midwest Playoffs. In 2006 Bremer County lost a close game in the second round to a club from Toledo that went on to success in the national tournament. The following year, the Bucks made the Final Four, but lost by a single point scored during the closing minutes of a tough match against the Iowa City Ducks. Finally, last year the Bucks lost another close second round game to the Eastside Banshees of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
This year the Bucks are hoping to build on their post season experiences of the past three years and make a serious run at the national tournament. Their playoff run begins in Waverly on October 25 at 1:00 against the #2 team from the South Central League. Games are played on the grass field across from the sale barn in Waverly. Following the game there is a social hosted by the Pour House where free food and beer are served for fans and players. There is no admission price for the game, so stop out and support the Bucks! More information can be found on the team's website at www.bremerbucks.com.
Bremer Closes Regular Season with Victory against Pearl City
The Bucks wrapped their regular season league schedule this past weekend. The Pearl City Rugby Football Club of Muscatine travelled to Waverly to play the Bucks. Bremer County is a Division III club and Pearl City is Division I club, but Pearl City fields a B-side team that competes in the Division III Iowa League. Due to personnel constraints, Pearl City needed to bring a handful of Division I A-side players to field a complete team, including their starting scrum half and a former USA Eagles player. Because Pearl City was forced to play Division I players, the two clubs agreed that officially Pearl City would forfeight to Bremer County, but an unofficial friendly match was still played.
Even though the game was an unoffical friendly match, both sides played with high level of intensity. The Bucks cleaned up many of the early mistakes and unnecessary penalties that had plagued them in some of the previous weeks. Bremer County got off to an early lead when veteran Tom Harn scored the first try playing at wing. The Bucks increased the lead with a long run by Brett Behrends that started very deep in Bucks' territory and ended in a Bremer County try. Bremer County continued to build on that lead, while shutting out Pearl City leading into overtime. Bremer County sustained its dominant performance in the second half, but Pearl City would not give up, and managed a couple scores led by their small but very agile scrum half.
Bremer County made it a point all day to break quickly on the Pearl City ball carriers which led to Bremer County stealing a number of Pearl City passes. Devin Patten was one of those players, and he managed to capitalize on the opportunity by scoring off his stolen pass. New Buck Mac Stahr had an impressive run in the second half that ended in a kick that took out two Pearl City defenders, and led to a go-ahead score for hooker Jesse Sathre. Bremer County scrum half Eric Whitcome scored a short try for the Bucks through a series of tough runs right into the gut of the Pearl City defense.
The official final score of the match was 28-0, as all forfeights are recorded for the purposes of league scoring. There was no score kept in the friendly match, but it was evident that the Bucks outscored the Pearl City side. With that victory the Bucks closed out their Iowa League schedule an undefeated 6-0. This marks the third consecutive year that the Bucks have won the Iowa League title, and the fourth consecutive year that the Bucks have qualified for the Midwest Playoffs. The Bucks look to continue their winning ways in two weeks when they will host the first round of the Midwest playoffs. The game will be played October 25 at 1:30 at the pitch in Waverly.
Bremer County Improve to 5-0 with 44-5 Victory over Iowa City
Bremer County traveled to the middle of nowhere somewhere in the vicinity of Iowa City on Sunday to take on the Iowa City Ducks. The Bucks took an early lead when Zeus scored a try off a behind-the-back pop pass from Matt Daniels that could only be described as the "sickest shit I've ever seen." Bremer County got off to a slow start in the first half, and penalties kept the ball on the Bucks' half of the field. Joe Randall put in a second try for the Bucks, giving Bremer County a 2-try lead at halftime. The Bucks scored very early in the second half, after a short kickoff was played by an Iowa City player. From that point on, the game belonged to Bremer County. Notable plays in the second half included Zeus mowing a 130-pound winger en route to a try, Casey breaking a number of tackles to score a long run, and Fish scoring off a blocked Iowa City kick. Joe Randall also hit a long kick in the second half to score an additional 3 points for the Bucks. He nearly made a second, but it hit the left post and did not go in. I think Brett Beherends, and possibly other people may have also scored tries and/or kicks for the Bucks (I lost track). Bremer County looks to finish its Iowa League schedule undefeated when they host Pearl City B at home on Saturday (October 11) at 1:30.
Bremer County Victorious over Iowa Falls
This past Sunday, the Bucks travelled to Iowa Falls. Despite the Bucks' 3-0 record and Iowa Falls' 0-3 record going into the game, this was not a match to be taken lightly because the Bremer County-Iowa Falls matches are always hard-fought; especially in Iowa Falls. Sunday was no exception. Despite the lopsided score, it was tough, physical match, but a match generally dominated by the Bucks. The Bucks scored three tries in the first half, but Iowa Falls was able to sneak a score in just before the first half ended. These were the first points scored against Bremer County since week one, and they would be the only points scored on the day by Iowa Falls. Bremer County clinched the game partway through the second half when Eric Pryor scored a try capping a strong push off a Bremer County scrum on the 5 meter mark.
Bucks Beat Gopher College 67-0
On Saturday, the Bucks hosted Gopher College Rugby of Algona. On the opening play of the game Algona kicked to Bremer County. Fish caught the ball, and was promptly leveled by two Gopher College players. He retained possession of the ball, and from that point on the game belonged to Bremer County. Justin Haught had a strong performance at wing, scoring two tries in the first half. Zeus also scored multiple tries, including a 22 meter run off a penalty where he also carried much of the Algona team with him. By halftime, the Bucks had built up a sizable lead. Long-time Buck Andrew Schuldt scored one try at wing, and had one very long run where he pulled moves that even managed juke out his own teammates. First-year wing, Peanut, was all over the ball in the second half, but unfortunately penalties prevented any of his tries from counting. However, he still had the honors of performing a zulu at the party because of his score at the UNI game opening weekend. This weekend the Bucks will be playing an away game in Iowa Falls.
Bremer County Defeat Cedar Rapids 12-0
This past weekend Bremer County traveled to Cedar Rapids to play the Headhunters. Due to this past summer's floods, the game was played at Jones Park instead of Cedar Rapids' normal pitch. A day of constant rain softened the field and made footing a constant problem. This week's game saw the return of Zach Behrends who was previously sidelined with a leg injury. He made his presence known early by completely mowing an unsuspecting Cedar Rapids back. He also scored one of Bremer County's two tries. The other try went to Brett Behrends. The game was filled with many kicks being traded by the two sides. Bremer County spent much of the second half on Cedar Rapids' side of field, but could not capitalize. When Cedar Rapids made a final offensive push, the Bucks' strong defense kept them out of the try zone and preserved the shutout. Man of the Match for the backs was newcomer Devin "Powder" Patten who previously played for UNI. Man of the Match for the pack was Bill Knutson at prop.
This weeks game is against Gopher College, in Waverly at 1:30. Current players should plan on showing up early for a team picture before the game.
Bremer County Defeats Dubuque
This past Saturday (September 6) the Bremer County Bucks defeated a much-improved Dubuque club. The Bucks got out to a strong start early and finished the first half with a healthy lead. Dubuque capitalized on a couple costly Bremer County mistakes to close the gap within 1 try in the second half. However, the Bucks held them off, and late try by Jody Fisher clinched the game for Bremer County. Next weekend the Bucks travel to Cedar Rapids for a huge game against the Headhunters. The game starts at 1:30 on Saturday in Cedar Rapids. The location of the game is still being determined due to Cedar Rapids' pitch being flooded out. Check back for updates on the game's location.
Get CIPP'd!
Everyone who is planning on playing this fall needs to get CIPP'd before they can play! Do so here: USA Rugby Online Registration