Written By: Conner Wise
Continuing the bulldog’s perfect record this season, Adrian tacked on a couple more wins including Central Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, and the Fort Wayne Rugby Club. This leads them to be 5 – 0 in their conference and 6 – 0 for their overall record. For two weeks the Bulldogs did not have a match due to other competitors such as Ferris State University and Oakland University backing out a few days prior.
Due to the bulldogs not having a match in two weeks, they had to pick up a game against the Fort Wayne Rugby Club. At 9 am on Oct. 16, Fort Wayne came to Bulldogs territory where they put on an astounding 60-point victory. This was the first team they played all season that was not an official collegiate team, so they did not really know what to expect going into this match
Macgregor Adams, senior, got the team going with a try early in the first half followed by Sam Williams, sophomore, and Farid Abboud, freshman, both scoring after with Williams tacking on the 2-point conversion putting them at 17 – 0. The bulldogs had the lead at 22 – 5 with Fort Wayne tacking on their first try in the last few moments of the first half.
Adrian had more than six of their athletes score in the match with Adams taking on another three tries himself in the second half. The final score of the game was 60 – 10. Seeing these results that are consistent from game to game has really put some confidence in not only the players, but also the students that attend the matches. The stands at Docking Stadium are constantly filled with friends and family who love seeing their college put up some great numbers to some huge universities.
After interviewing Sam Williams about the season so far, he had a few things to say regarding where he sees the program heading in the future. Williams said, “The season so far has been about building a solid foundation and system for the team. Although we haven’t had a top competitor yet, it’s given us the opportunity to fine tune our structure and identify our weaknesses.”
One thing to remember is that this is Adrian Colleges first rugby team in collegiate history. The concept of composing a program this successful so far with only a few months of training and practice, really shows how much effort these players, coaches, and faculty members have put in to create such a dominating team.
Being undefeated at 6 – 0 guarantees playoff time which these players deserve. Williams states, “Moving forward we are looking towards playoffs. I’m sure the games will be more intense, but we are going there with the mindset to win. Next year we will be in D1A so getting our basics down right now will help us a lot in the future for the program.”
The Bulldogs have two more matches left of their regular season with Saginaw Valley State University on Oct. 22 Calvin College on Oct. 29 which are both home games. After these two games, Adrian will go into the playoffs where their skill will be matched with some of the best schools in the nation.
The College World 