Baylor Downs a Tough Texas State Team (Baylor 37 – TSU 24)
Baylor A vs. TSU A
Baylor had its first test of the season this past weekend as the Texas State Renegades traveled to Waco on Parents Weekend for a two game series.
Baylor received the ball going up hill and into a bit of an afternoon breeze. The initial kickoff was knocked on inside the BU 22 meter line which put Baylor under immediate pressure. Through some determined defense Baylor was able to relieve pressure and clear the ball down the field. In the 8th minute Baylor was awarded a scrum on the right side of the pitch and ran a nice backrow move that saw 8-man Blake Rodgers pick and go and distribute to Scrumhalf Brent Jukubec he committed the defense and then made a perfect pass to Winger Cody Riles for the first try of the game, the try was converted by Flanker Gavin Goetchius (Baylor 7 – TSU 0). The next 10 or so minutes of the game was a back and forth affair as the TSU pack put continued pressure on our very young front row. BU once again found themsleves pinning TSU deep in their own territory and in the 22 minute Baylor poached a ball that was quickly put through the hands to Gavin Goetchius, he committed the winger and dished to Winger Cody Riles for his second try of the game, converted by Jon Hoskett (Baylor 14 – TSU 0). Baylor again had trouble clearing the kickoff which allowed TSU to threaten deep in our territory once again. Some overly aggressive defense saw a TSU back slice his way through the backline for a 40 meter try making the score at halftime (Baylor 14 – TSU 5).
In the second half Baylor was going down hill with the slight breeze at their back and were expecting to put up multiple tries on TSU. TSU has other plans and scored the first try of the half cutting the lead to (Baylor 14 – TSU 10). Baylor pinned the TSU team deep on the insuing kickoff and turned the ball over before Brent Jukubec jinked his way past half a dozen defenders for an unconverted try in the 55th minute (Baylor 19 – TSU 14). A mental error by Baylor on a 22 drop out allowed TSU to pin Baylor deep within their 22. Baylor gained possession but against their coaches wishes tried to run the ball out instead of playing tactical rugby and kick the ball into touch. This led to an intercept try for Texas State University as they cut the lead to (Baylor 19 – TSU 17). With 20 minutes to go this was anyones game. Finally Baylor decided to wake up and begin to play much better tactical rugby. Three tries were scored in the next 10 minutes by Baylor coming from Gavin Goetchius, and 2 by Freshman replacement Winger Josh Key. None of the scores were converted leaving the score at (Baylor 34 – TSU 24). In the waining minutes of the game Baylor was awarded two penalties in which they correctly choose to have a kick at goal. The first was missed but the second was slotted by Gavin Goetchius to seal the game Baylor 37 – Texas State University 24. This was a good learning experince for the team and showed many areas where we need dramatic improvement before we attend the Cowtown Tournament in Ft. Worth. All in all a decent game concidering the number of young players on the Baylor squad, but there is much room for improvement.
Baylor A Squad:
1 Miklos Valdes
2 DJ Spence
3 Dylan Gray
4 Chip Camp
5 Rhett (???)
6 Gavin Goetchius
7 Chris (???)
8 Blake Rodgers (Captain)
9 Brent Jukubec
10 Sean Reid
11 Ryan Phillips
12 Jon Hosket
13 Josh Terndup
14 Cody Riles
15 Jeff Kreisel (Co-Captain)
Man of the match: Gavin Goetchius
Tries: Cody Riles (2), Josh Key (2), Brent Jukubec (1), Gavin Goetchius (1)
Converstions: Jon Hosket 1 for 3, Gavin Goetchius 1 for 3
Penalty Kicks: Gavin Goetchius 1 for 2
Substitutes:
Nate Sloan for Blake Rodger in the 40th minute
Rob Geiersbach for Chris in the 40th minute
Sebastian (???) for Rhett in the 55th minute
Josh Key for Cody Riles in the 60th minute
Baylor B vs. TSU B
The second game of the day was played completely as a developmental game. Baylor fielded an entire squad of rookies that played very hard against a TSU team that had many familiar faces and alumni playing for them. Baylor learned a lot from the game and will continue to improve. There was some great defense exhibited by Nate Sloan as he made tackles all over the field, some nice tactical kicking by Flyhalf Kyle Fitzpatrick, and some nice lineout takes by Jim Stewart. Baylor lost the game 22 -5 but the experience gained will pay dividends as the season progresses.