HAIL, PELICUS!
PROMOTION
Sean Peters has earned promotion to L3 and is due congratulations on his accomplishment. See you Wednesday, March 9, at the NCRRS meeting?
EXCHANGE HOSTS NEEDED
We have several incoming exchange referees in March.
If you would be able to host, please contact Bjorn Stumer: bstumer@comcast.net
Remember: hosting earn you not only good karma, but valuable Hosting Points, good toward a future out-going exchange.
CONTACT TEAMS ON MONDAY
Please check www.Pelicanrefs.com for upcoming assignments. Contact the home team (information under Contacts and then Club Contacts) on Monday by e-mail.
If you don’t hear back by Tuesday evening, try the phone numbers.
If you can’t get in touch with the home team, the time to panic is Wednesday. The last two weeks we’ve had an inordinate number of Friday night ‘emergencies’, requests for help.
We had a saying in the Army: Lack of planning on YOUR PART does not constitute an emergency on OUR PART.
If you can’t get through: try the visiting team. Try refs who have worked their previous games. And when you get updated contact information, send it to Scott Wood to post on the website so future refs don’t have to retrace your steps.
UPDATE CONTACT INFORMATION
Which reminds us – if you are a referee or a representative of a club, college or high school team, check to see that your contact information is current. Thank you.
LET US KNOW IF YOUR GAME IS CANCELED
We have LOTS of games without referees. We don’t have enough referees even to pretend to assign most second-side matches (for example: men’s D2 club games have second-sides). If your game is canceled, you are guaranteed another if you ask. These requests we are happy to handle on a Friday.
WEBSITES TO LOVE
www.norcalrugby.com
“I'm the webmaster for several clubs and also put together the Sac Valley youth, NCRYA and NCRFU sites in the last year. I've also started a Rugby News/Resource site at www.norcalrugby.com that I'd love to expand to have more ref info and at a minimum link to your site and blog.
Cheers,
Kyle Kreun”
http://pelicanrefs.bestforum.ca/
Bruce Ricard has set up a forum for discussing all aspects of our happy addiction in Northern California.
RUGBY GAMES
San Mateo 24 - SACRAMENTO CAPITALS 31 Referee: Preston Gordon
AR: John Coppinger; TJ: Vuka Tau (San Mateo)
Hillsdale High School, 1300
This was a tale of two halves on a brisk windy day in Hillsdale. The turf pitches usually produce a pretty fast game and this one was no exception.
Sacramento came out of the blocks early, with tries in the 4th, 17th (converted), and 29th minutes putting them 17-0 ahead before San Mateo managed to reply with one of their own (also converted) at 32' for a halftime score of 17-7 to the visitors.
Both sides seemed to have an animated team talk during the break. Indeed, the first 20 minutes of the second half were a great exhibition of running rugby, helped by several turnovers and good ball movement to the wings. Neither side was interested in kicking penalty goals (perhaps because the penalty count remained moderately low throughout the game) but instead looked for the gain in territory by kicking to touch or running a set play from a tap kick.
After a 55th minute yellow card to a San Mateo player for a partially successful no-wrap tackle, scoring resumed in the 59th minute with a converted try to the Capitals. At 24-7 in their favor, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them run away with the game, and soon they appeared to lose focus - for example, stopping play when I announced advantage. However, San Mateo had redoubled their efforts and were almost immediately rewarded with an interception and converted try at 61' to bring them within 10 points. Sacramento scored again at 67' (converted), taking them out to 31 points, but could not stop San Mateo's next two tries in the 70th and 79th minutes which were enough to earn them two well-deserved bonus points.
There were a couple of close calls in this game, with Sacramento penalized for a double movement on the San Mateo goal line and a couple of forward passes that I couldn't fairly let slide due to the multitude of yard-lines on this football field. It was great to have John on the touchline - thanks - and while rugby may have (once) been a hooligan's game, this one was played by gentlemen and it was a pleasure to referee.
Seconds: San Mateo 27 – SAC CAPITALS 36 Referee: John Coppinger
Barbarians 8 – EPA BULLDOGS 92 Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referee: Eric Rauscher, Touch Judge: Jerry Vaega
After waking up early to watch the Sri Lanka v Pakistan cricket world cup match and the England v France 6N rugby match, it was time to get off the couch for the opening weekend of the NorCal D1 league. Despite the weatherman's hyperbole about snow in the bay area, it was mostly sunny and 50F on the synthetic turf at Cubberley Field stadium in Palo Alto. Although the referee and visiting EPA Bulldogs were ready to play at 1:30pm, kickoff was delayed until 2pm until more of the Barbarian players arrived at the field and the match safety protocol was implemented by both teams. Last year's EPA Razorbacks team has split into two this year with the more experienced players forming the EPA Bulldogs and the younger players remaining as the EPA Razorbacks. The Barbarians took an early 0-3 lead after an EPA player was offside from a kick, which turned out to be the only (minor) area that EPA had issues, as they were penalized two more times for the same infringement. After the initial hiccup, EPA went on a scoring blitz, leading 45-3 at the break. The Barbarians were strong individually, but lacked team structure and organization. In contrast, EPA looked a well-oiled machine in complete control of the field of play. In the second half, EPA inserted their reserves and helped themselves to 47 more points. EPA's low scrum was very effective and their half-backs were creative off broken play with swarming support out wide. The Barbarians scored off their only multi-phase play of the game and played hard, albeit individually, throughout the game. In the end, EPA tallied 7 tries in each half to dominate the match, 14 tries to 1. It will be very interesting to see how EPA performs against stronger league opposition as they were practically on cruise control most of this game. Both teams should be commended for playing with a positive attitude in front of a sizeable crowd of local spectators in the stadium stands. Much thanks to Eric Rauscher as AR and Jerry Vaega as TJ (the latter is a former referee from Samoa who plans to join NCRRS.)
Seconds: BARBARIANS 17 – EPA Bulldogs 7 Referee: Eric Rauscher
4000 Middlefield Palo Alto synthetic turf, wrong lines etc but a game none the less.
The Barbarians had just finished their first side game, and having a rather thin roster, it was decided to play just two 20 min halves. The play was friendly and fairly even. The Barbarians had been shellacked in their first side, so it must have felt good to win this one. It was a fun game to ref.
OLYMPIC CLUB 36 – Sac Lions 15 Referee: Paul Bretz
O club defeated sac Lions 36-15. At the 60 minutes the score was 17-15 in favor of O club. Late in the game O club put the game out of reach.
Seconds: OLYMPIC CLUB 40 – Sac Lions 17 Referee: Stephanie Bruce
Diablo Gaels 20 – SFGG COLTS 24 Referee: Phil Akroyd
Great weather, great field and two teams that wanted to win. The lead went back and forth all of the game but SFGG appeared to have the fitter forwards who took the lead in the final quarter.
Berkeley 15 – CHICO 34 Referee: John Fouts
Referee Coach: David Williamson
Seahawks 5 –SANTA ROSA 27 Referee: Rich Anderson
Santa Rosa has emerged in the early season as a solid Division 2 Squad. They are disciplined around the rucks and very explosive around the edges.
Both skills were on display when Rosa went down to the South Bay to take on the Seahawks. Rosa was able to commit few men to both the offensive and defensive rucks, and when they controlled the ball, they were able to spread it wide and pass it around for some long tries.
On a personal note, the Pelicans would like to welcome Paul Simko, old teammate, coach and documentarian, to the dark side of referring. Paul took on the B side match, and although a little behind the action (much like his playing days), both sides appreciated his effort and were able to play rugby. It is always good to see a new referee.
Marin 10 - FRESNO 17 Referee: Sean Peters
Referee Coach: Mike Malone
What was supposed to be a cold and snowy day, but it turned out to be a nice typical Nor-Cal day for rugby. Marin hosting Fresno, in what was a hard hitting battle between both forward packs. First half both teams looking for each other’s weakness but couldn't find one ,with both teams making their tackles and communicating with each other. Fresno's forwards struck first, making the score 7-0. Right before the half Marin kicked a penalty kick, making it 7-3 at half.
Second half was like the first, both hard hitting from each team. Till Fresno backs broke through the line making it 14-3 , Marin rallied right back and scored a try with extra conversion 14-10. Marin wasn’t stepping down, but Fresno marched down the field and was awarded a penalty kick. Then Fresno put up another 3 points 17-10.
The game could have gone either way.
Seconds: Marin 12 - FRESNO 26 Ref: Peters
Marin vs Fresno in the second game was like their first game. A hard hitting fast paced game. First half Fresno struck with a try and a conversion, Marin was right back with a try of their own 7-7. The game continued both scoring more tries before half 12-12.
At the start of the second half , Fresno's #7 started breaking through Marin's forward pack scoring his second try. Both Marin And Fresno Played well to the end, when Fresno's #7 again scored another try for a hat trick. Great game both teams well coached! Marin and Fresno played hard till the last couple of minutes
BARACUS 32 – Vacaville 12 Referee: Tony Levitan
After weather prognosticators influenced those who determine the availability of fields in San Francisco to again ban weekend play on BA Baracus' home pitch, Vacaville was resourceful and generous enough to host this Division II match-up under glorious rugby weather that somehow, some way should have resulted in floggings for all the Chicken Little forecasters. Clear skies, brisk temperatures, and a pitch without a single puddle supported a day of mostly running rugby, save the too-frequent interruption for backline offside play.
The match proved to be of distinctive halves with Baracus jumping out to a 25-0 halftime lead (3 tries, 2 conversions and 2 penalty kicks) before yielding the second half to Vacaville, 7-12 (1 late converted try by Baracus to 2 tries, 1 conversion for Vacaville) for the 32-12 finally tally. Many of Baracus' finest advances came from their scrum play as they were more dominant in general and very clean off the back, whether in attack or moving the ball to their backs. Vacaville made use of lots of quality lineout ball (the pitch was a bit narrow so the match had more than the normal number of lineouts) and often breached the gain line in positive attacking efforts.
After replaying the match during my scurry home to catch my kid's lacrosse game, I realize I could have justly issued Baracus a yellow card for repeated offside at rucks which may have cleaned up some of the second-half chippiness. The power of the yellow is one of the changes to the Laws that still is not firmly cemented in my intra-match brain firings since returning from my too-many-year reffing hiatus. But as the Shaolin elders offered Caine in Kung Fu, "First comes awareness; action emerges after."
SOUTH VALLEY 84 – Fog 0 Referee: Bruce Carter
AR: Ben Bravo
The pitch was in sunshine but clouds covered the nearby hills with snow during the match. It then snowed on the San Jose State game immediately after this one.
South Valley had their horses out running in the cold weather. Fog were game but couldn’t stop the thoroughbreds.
COLUSA 24 – Redwood 0 Referee: Rich Boyer
Colusa hosted Redwood on a clear, cold day. The pitch was well lined and remarkably dry. Numerous Colusa supporters were out in full force. Colusa dominated the first five minutes and were rewarded with a try off open play. Redwood were game, but, with only 14 players, tired sooner than Colusa, which managed to keep the ball in the forwards most of the game. Colusa has a good 28 players.
Afa Wonking, 54 years young, propped for Redwood and was heard by this ref to make a number of law observations while on the pitch.
Colusa continued to pick and drive relentlessly. When Redwood stifled this, Colusa changed to rolling mauls, off which two more tries were scored. And when Redwood committed too many to the rucks and mauls, Colusa swung the ball wide, with the hard running young 13 and 14 gaining many meters. Colusa prop #1 was man of the match, making many blistering runs and oftentimes taking 3 plus players before succumbing to the tackle. Colusa #6 deserves mention. The young Redwood scrumhalf and young winger stood out for Redwood.
A big thank you to Dave Ellis for running touch and also for reminding yours truly the words to Jonestown.
Final score 24-0, followed by a fine post game party at the Refuge.
Shasta 7 – VALLEJO 26 Referee: Cary Bertolone
The drive to Redding turned out to be only 3.5 hours from my house, a pleasant surprise. The city of Redding was surrounded by snowy Mtns. (Shasta, Lassen and Trinity Alps) and the pitch was perfectly marked and in a great setting. Shasta kicked off at 2:00 PM with a 20 mile an hour crosswind, temperature about 40 degrees with a chill factor of about 10 degrees (we "warmed up" with sweats on). You got to be tough to play rugby in Shasta (or Reno). What a great game played by gentlemen. Vallejo has a great thing going. High energy, clean rugby and some really good athletes. Same with Shasta. Vallejo scored the first two tries for a 12-0 lead. Shasta muscled one across the try line, but the player ran out of the back of the try zone attempting a center try, so, no score. Vallejo scored again for a 19-0 halftime lead. Shasta's loose head prop, Andreas Mittry, powered one in for a center try, but Vallejo snagged an interception for the final center try, winning the game 26-7. Both teams were intense, played hard, laughed a lot, got really muddy and made it a great day of rugby!!
Reno Zephyrs – Humboldt ‘SNOWED OUT’
Mendocino – Reno Academy ‘SNOWED OUT’
We place quotation marks around the weather declamatory because the women’s team from UNR was able to get to Eureka for their game.
MONTEREY 17 – San Bruno Saints 12 Referee: James Hinkin
After listening to grim weather forecasts all week it was no surprise when, while driving down to Monterey, the Great Blizzard of 2011 struck. Whirling snow and freezing temperatures were the order of the day and I seriously considered turning around and declaring Hwy 156 impassable.
But 20 minutes later it was all over so I continued on.
I arrived at the fields and spoke with the captains and we were underway. A small field dictated some of the strategies as great sweeping moves to the wind would have ended up 15 yards in touch, so both teams stuck with straight ahead running. Monterey had the better of the first half because while both teams had chances, Monterey was able to convert theirs into points. 2 tries (1 converted) to the home side gave them a 12-0 lead at the break.
San Bruno regrouped at half time and the story reversed itself, although San Bruno didn’t seem to get into gear until they were down a man after their #7 was yellow carded for repeated infringement. They scored a try (converted) with 14 and then when the Monterey captain was yellow carded for delaying a quick tap a second was added to tie the score. Once Monterey got back to full strength they started attaching the line again with greater success until a try was finally put over for a 17-12 lead. The last 5 minutes were exciting and tense as San Bruno hammered at the Monterey line but couldn’t break through. A penalty for obstruction finally relieved the pressure and when Monterey kicked the ball out the game was over.
Samoa United – Arroyo Grande RAINED OUT
PASO ROBLES 20 – Stanislaus 17 Referee: Jeff Jury
Paso Robles came back in the last 4mins to win their first ever game on their debut on their new pitch.
St. Mary's 2 – EPA Razorbacks CANCELED
St. Mary's/3 – EPA Razorbacks 2 CANCELED
SACRAMENTO STATE 34 – Chico State 25 Referee: JC Van Staden
AR’s- Ray Schwartz/Jim Crenshaw/Matt Eason
The sun was shining, but somewhere the heat turned into a breath of ice… 45F
Chico came out hard, and within minutes put on the first points. It took a while for Sac State to warm up and get into the rhythm, but they answered back with a perfect try, following about 14 pick and drives…
From there on, both teams brought all they had. Chico’s outside center found non-existing holes in Sac’s defense, and managed to keep them in the game, but from there on the clock would end up being the deciding factor. There can only be 1 winner, and even being 2 men down for the last 5 min, Sac State managed to hang on to the lead to earn a win.
Seconds: Sacramento State – Chico State 2 Referee: Ray Schwartz
No report received.
Santa Clara 19 – STANFORD 48 Referee: Stephen Moore
Santa Clara started well with a strong forward led try and soon followed by another, it seemed like the day was theirs. Half time score Santa Clara 12, Stanford 10 and struggling. The second half saw an entirely different Stanford performance, the score line advanced significantly with a series of impressive back line led tries. Santa Clara fell into a slump except for the final minute scoring their only second half points with a try followed by a conversion at full time. Scrums were a challenge to referee, a lot of twisting and turning. Some penalties resulted for not binding.
Seconds: SANTA CLARA 29 – Stanford 0 Referee: Chris Fisher
Santa Rosa JC 5 - SIERRA COLLEGE 27 Referee: Joe Androvich
After referee a low-energy high school match Friday where it felt like the teams could have cared less, it was refreshing to referee this action packed, high-intensity D2 match in Santa Rosa, California. This match defined both teams' seasons: a Sierra College victory of 8 points or more solidified their spot in the playoffs - anything less and the season was over. Both teams fought hard for 80 minutes, but at the end, Sierra's backline speed and strength in the forward pack proved too much for Santa Rosa.
As an aside, it feels like Sierra College is one of those special teams that comes around once a decade or so; they are students of the game, fit, fast, and care about each other. If you have a chance, go watch these guys as they are probably going to do well in the playoffs.
SAN JOSE STATE 40 - Fresno State 25 Referee: Jen Tetler
Two very classy college teams stepped onto the turf field at Morgan Hill Sports Complex on Saturday and played an excellent, clean, and competitive game despite the cold weather and threatening clouds (which ended up showering some snow on us by the end of the day!) San Jose started out strong with a breakaway off the kickoff, which resulted in a penalty kick for 3 points. Fresno consolidated their defense and retaliated with the first try of the match (converted) a few minutes later. The game went back and forth during the first half, with San Jose scoring 4 tries before the end and Fresno scoring one more plus their own penalty kick for a half-time score of 25-14 San Jose. San Jose came out strong in the first ten minutes of the second half with two quick tries in succession, but Fresno held them up for the rest of the game (with the help of a sin bin to San Jose's #7) and got a try of their own with 6 minutes left.
Seconds: SAN JOSE STATE 22 - Fresno State 12 Ref: Tetler
Fresno and San Jose stuck around for 4 15-minute quarters for their B-sides. Rucks and tackles were a little messy, but both teams were hitting and running hard. There was a lot of kicking from both sides, and a few heart-breaking knock-ons or forward passes that brought back tries from both sides. San Jose dominated the first half with 3 tries (one converted), while Fresno dominated the second half with two tries (one converted) to San Jose's one.
University of the Pacific Tigers 0 - UC SANTA CRUZ SLUGS 39 Referee: Scott Wood
Location: Gardemeyer Field, UOP, Stockton
Weather: Thankfully the sun was out...
Finally, a home game for the referee. Not that I was rooting for UOP but rather my trip to the pitch took eight minutes.
UCSC has a lot of talent. UOP has a lot of potential. Both teams tackled well and competed aggresively at the breakdown, occassionally forcing turnovers. UOP could not capitalize off of several opportunities to score but this may change; especially if some of its players show up more often to practice to compete for spots on the starting XV.
San Francisco State 5 –HUMBOLDT STATE 40 Referee: Liz Palmer
Intermittent clouds and sunshine provided good weather conditions with no precipitation. The fog pitch had some muddy spots, but grass (and goose poop) covered most of the playing area.
SF State won the coin toss, and the match started with both teams evenly playing back and forth across the 50. At the 15th minute, 1 breakthrough allowed Humboldt to get ahead by one try, and 5 minutes later another back broke through and ran for a try, giving Humboldt an edge. The first half ended 21-0.
The second half became more aggressive, as 2 blood subs (1 from each team) were needed. High tackles continued from both teams, and after verbal warnings were unheeded, I gave 2 yellow cards to Humboldt players for high tackling. The match was played quite evenly by the teams' forwards, but Humboldt's wide, successful passes gave their backs the opportunity to break through SF State's back line to score tries. Humboldt missed only 1 conversion out of their 6 tries.
UC DAVIS women 58 – UC Santa Cruz 5 Referee: Jim Crenshaw
A cold crisp morning in Davis for an 11 am kick off.
Davis scored early and, obviously often, with 5 tries in each half.
Had 2 UCD players in the bin for repeat infringement near the end of the first half. Davis scored when it was 14 against 15, but Santa Cruz scored when it was 13 against 15. It was 27 to 5 at halftime.
The second half saw Santa Cruz backs twice pass directly to a Davis back bursting through their line for tries between the posts. Ouch!!
STANFORD women 17 – Chico State 5 Referee: Chris Tucker
STANFORD 2nds 44 - San Jose/Fresno Combined 0 Referee: Sandy Robertson
Stanford women's 2nd side faced a team with both San Jose State and Fresno state students. Stanford's time together and their inclusion of one or two experienced/skilled players gave them a decisive advantage in continuity, support, and recognition in open play. The SJFS side held their own in set pieces and physicality, but were often a step late to breakdowns, unsure of where or how to support. Stanford was able to move the ball wide, maintain possession, and run in 8 tries.
HUMBOLDT STATE WOMEN 24 - Reno 0 Referee: John Pohlman
Any trip up to referee in Humboldt County starts on Friday. The 300 plus miles is difficult to make on Saturday morning.
With a planned 11:00AM kick-off, it was obvious I needed to get out of town Friday, preferably before the traffic added another hour to the drive.
With the coldest storm in over 100 years in the forecast and the opponent being from Reno, my concerns were first safe driving for me and the women from Reno. And second could either of us make it.
Well I want to tip my stocking cap; it was cold, to the road warrior women from University of Nevada, Reno. With HWY 80 closed for most of Friday and chains required for all the passes they made it.
One van did not get in until after 3:00AM, after more than 9 hours of driving.
My drive saw snow falling on and off from Ukiah on. When I finally arrived at Fortuna it was practically a white out.
Humboldt is now playing games in Manila Park. I was surprised how nice a day Saturday was. At the 11:00AM kickoff the temperature was 42 and not a cloud in the sky.
The first half was mostly a plodding affair. Both teams pressured enough that there was no space created for anything but straight forward running and good tackling.
Humboldt's hard running flyhalf finally broke down the defense just before half time for a 5-0 lead.
Humboldt's women were bigger and a bit more organized throughout the game. The size advantage wore down the Wolfpack and led to three trys scored in the second half.
Humboldt's # 8 Aooibheann Foley Cline scored thirteen minutes into the second half. Humboldt continued to pressure the Nevada defense and scored out wide with winger Loni Carrera. Captain and scrum half Anne Fehrenbach scored the final try.
They played a second game of 14 on 14 with 14 minute halves. Of note a new Japanese exchange student playing rugby to make friends and improve her second language scored a hat trick.
Again I want to give props to the Nevada Women on their commitment. On a side note, the Humboldt D3 men were on hand watching the game. They had cancelled their trip to Reno for a game due to weather!
SANTA CLARA women 44 – SF Bats 22 Referee: Lois Bukowski
The rain all week shut down the grass fields, but we were able to make use of an all-purpose soccer pitch (they wouldn't let us line it, but that did not deter us from going forward with our rugby match.)
BRUW (Bronco Rugby University Women) jumped out to an early lead, scoring every 5 minutes for the first 20. Blazing fast fullback Victoria Rutherford had this "still rusty" ref hustling to stay within the 5 meter line for her 3 first-half tries. All total, she had 5 on the day and by midway in the 2nd half I corner flagged every time she got the ball.
Tale of 2 halves as the Bats finally awoke from their cave like existence in the first half. They put all but 5 of their points on in the second half, but in the end, the steady continuity of the Bronco ruck and fun game was enough to decide this match.
Overall, decent rugby skill but with far too many mistakes on both sides...help me keep the whistle in my pocket, shall we ladies?
SUNDAY
CHICO STATE WOMEN 80 – Sac State Women 0 Referee: Dave Ellis
The last stop in my weekend trifecta was a Sunday morning game at Chico State. The day prior I had the pleasure of running touch for Rich Boyer in Colusa County at the Colusa/Redwood game, in which Colusa again showed they are for real with an impressive win over a Redwood team who were missing some key personnel. Chico State ladies team were no less impressive.
The league tie-breaking criteria required Chico to run up the score in their quest for the playoffs, and a little frustration was evident on their part early in the game as strong defense on the part of Sac State held Chico scoreless for a good part of the 1st half. Chico have a fine collection of strong attacking players who play the game at full speed, and after time Sac State tired and Chico seemed to grow stronger. Led by Erica Lane, who scored six tries on the day, the floodgates opened at the twenty minute mark for Chico when Erica scored the first of fourteen Chico tries on the day. Not bad for a team that had also played a game the day before!
Nevada 5 – MARITIME ACADEMY 22 Referee: Lee Salgado
Despite the inch of snow on the pitch, the weather was beautiful for a rugby game with the temperature just shy of freezing at kick off.
Frozen hands and slippery ball gave both forward packs plenty of opportunity of scrum practice. Going into half time the game was close with both teams rucking well and utilizing their kicking to advance up the field. In the end, it was Cal Maritime's unrelenting support that would overcome UNR defenses.
Seconds: Nevada 0 –MARITIME ACADEMY 24 Referee: Don Pattalock
HIGH SCHOOL
Friday
ELSIE ALLEN 55 - Montgomery 0 Referee: Dave Ellis
The first stop in my rugby weekend trifecta was under the lights at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa where the Vikings were hosting Elsie Allen. The weather was cold and clear but it didn't affect Elsie Allen who came out of the blocks smoking hot, scoring a try in the 1st minute of play and another three minutes later. After their slow start Montgomery stepped up their game and began to compete better, but Elsie Allen's experience, discipline, support and ability to distribute from the tackle caused Montgomery problems all night. Montgomery didn't quit though, nor did they whine or complain. And the Elsie players handled themselves with class throughout, making it a very enjoyable experience for the ref despite the cold.
Saturday
SAN MATEO 60 – Live Oak 6 Referee: Chris Fisher
Berkeley Rhinos 5 – DANVILLE OAKS 7 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Tom Bates Fields, cold and breezy
An interesting game. Had a serious injury (concussion) of an Oaks player (Matt Nullholland, son of one of the coaches). The stoppage happened about 15 min into the first half. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, it was decided to call the first half over (scoreless). We started the second half with only 25min to play until we had to be off the field. The play was pretty even as indicated by the score. The thing that strikes me about HS games is that while the skill and structure of the games may not be the best, the kids place at a breakneck pace and you know you have been in a game by the end no matter what the score is. Here is praying that Matt may make a full and quick recovery.
BISHOP O'DOWD HS GIRLS 78 – Santa Rosa Lobos U19 Girls 10
Referee: Aruna Ranaweera
Assistant Referee: Eric Rauscher
Under lights in Oakland, BOD led 61-0 at half, and dominated the match, 12 tries to 2. BOD demonstrated good technical proficiency, especially their kicker who made several difficult conversions.
BISHOP O'DOWD girls "B" 12 – Berkeley 0 Referee: Eric Rauscher
Under the lights with people in the stands and quite cold. Both teams had a high percentage of rookies. During an injury break in the first half (an ambulance was called), I had a quick "What a tackle looks like" class with both teams. We restarted the second half and there were far fewer breakdown penalties. Both teams played with great spirit.
TUESDAY, 4PM
SFGG Colts – Univ. of Michigan CANCELED
HAIL, PELICUS!
For the Senate
Pelicus Scriptoris
