The SJRFC Devils scored ten tries, including a hat trick by man-of-the match #8 Justin Band, to annihilate Philadelphia-Whitemarsh RFC II 60-17 at Evesham Rd.   This raises the Devils to 2-2-1 in MARFU D-II North league action.  The B-Side played a combined Warton Business School/Widener Law RFC A-side in an entertaining match. Unfortunately they came up short, losing 22-12 and dropping to 2-3.

First game: 

1^st half:

Cloudless blue skies, bright sunshine and the famous Evesham Rd. shifting crosswind created a perfect backdrop for a clash with SJRFC’s oldest and bitterest rival; The red and blue from across the river- the notorious Philly-Whitetrash.  The bad blood goes back about thirty years-a decade longer than some of the present Devils have walked the earth. The rivalry has a storied past which peaked in the early-middle 90s. It included an A-Panel ref. extending injury time about ten minutes to let Philly catch up and win, some classic punch-ups and KOs, 6 present or former USA Rugby Eagles on the field at the same time, stealing seven Devils players for the first Super League season and sending the Devils into oblivion, and many more close Devils losses than wins. Most old timers sincerely hated them as much as the present Devils hate Reading.….and they hate us-until after the game of course. Although inherently conceited (they kind of deserve to be), they used to be kind of fun to hang out with after the match.  

Anyways-to the total annihilation:  To further set the stage, another Devils player popped his DII-North League match cherry as Pat Mirrabella got the nod at lock after some strong B-side performances.  To add even more drama, Billy Blauvelt was playing his last game for the Devils in the #15 shirt after a colorful eleven year career and many PW games. Bill is heading for the high country of Denver and we wish him well.  

The Devils took about seven minutes to get the ball rolling. After a missed Stom penalty, the Devils regained possession and kicked to the PW-II open wing.  Justin Band and Mike Rimositis applied the pressure with Mike coming up with the ball and putting away Justin for the try. The conversion was wide. PW-II countered with some “ten-man” rugby culminating in a series of missed Devils tackles and a PW-II converted try right up the gut. This would be it for PW as the Devils outscored PW-II 27-3 over the next 30 minutes. This included some outstanding play by Al Sauter at outside center-back from injury after missing four games, another Band hard work try, a charged down kick-recovery-and try by ever present blind side flanker Mike Hutchinson, lock Pat Mirabella’s first A-side try, and possibly, Bill Blauvelt’s last A-side try (for a while).  Bill Stom also scored a try and was 2 for 6 on conversions; not bad for a windy day and several corner shots.  Half time score:  SJRFC 34-PWII-10

2^nd half:

At 44:00 minutes, the Devils ran the 95 play from a scrum at midfield.  Alex Diaz, Bill Stom and fullback Billy Blauvelt ran it to perfection and put Mike Rimositis away at pace.  He blew by PW-II’s cover defenders like they were standing still for his weekly long try and, and true to form,  touched it down under the posts and Stom converted. Devils 41, PWII-10.  After the following kickoff , PW-II forced a turnover and worked another converted try in the forwards. At 60:00, the Devils pushed it down for a scrum at the PW-II five meter line.  #8 Justin Band picked from the base and powered in for his hat trick try, Stom converted. At 70:00, inside the Devils ten meter line, Bill Blauvelt recovered a bad pass and stepped around the over pursuing PW-II winger. He then put Scott Palumbo away and off to the races.  High-schooler Scott showed some pace as he went 90 yards for the try, Stom again converted making it 55-17.  Inside center Mike Higgins finished the scoring at 79:00 with an unconverted try off a nice feed from Tom Ferrari. 

Final Score: SJRFC-60, PW-II-17  

1. Graf  (Gambino)
2. Angelo
3. Diaz, T (c)
4. Mirrabella
5. Ackley (Higgins, H)
6. Hutchinson
7. Wright
8. Band (Quinn)
9. Diaz, A (McCoy)
10. Stom (vc) (Ferrari)
11. Palumbo
12. DiRomualdo (Higgins, M)
13. Sauter (Pente)
14. Rimositis
15. Blauvelt

Tries- Band (3), Rimositis (1), Mirabella (1), Hutchinson (1), Blauvelt (1), Stom (1), Higgins (1), Palumbo (1)   

Conversions: Stom (5)

Man of the Match: Justin Band

Coaches Comment: What is PW doing in DII? They cried Fall-player-poor-mouth (are you f$%^&g kidding me?) to MARFU and they allowed them to drop from D-I to D-II in the Fall while maintaining their Super League program in the Spring.  The PW D-II Fall team can only field five rostered Super League players at a time. Because they are not allowed to join D-I clubs, many PW players went back to their home D-II clubs or joined other D-II clubs; i.e. some of the D-II local rich (Media, Doylestown, Brandywine) got a little richer-and this is unfair to those teams that did not reap this benefit.   In effect, this situation has created what we probably all dread for selfish reasons but know we really need to move rugby forward in this country-a regional All-Star team that exceptional regional club players (NOT FOREIGN IMPORTS!!) can freely migrate to for higher level competition and hopefully, better coaching.  This is what the rest of the rugby world does to stay competitive; however, it does suck for clubs like SJRFC trying to climb the DII North ladder.  

Second game: (30 minute halves)

First Half:

PW-II is basically the PW B so they must hire mercenaries to play their MARFU mandated league B-games.  What they have been doing is getting Widener Law to play as their B-side. Wharton RFC also showed up so the combined side was a formidable group of experienced players.  We still should have beaten them; They were a bunch of fat lawyers and accountants!...but they were good and had a lot of foreigners mixed in. At 8:00, PW-IIB started the scoring converted try after a missed Devils tackle.  Picking up where they left off as reserves in the A-side, Ferrari and Higgins combined for a converted try at 14:00 to lock the score at 7s.  PW-IIB hit a penalty at 17:00 to make it 10-7 PW-IIB at the half. 

Second Half:

Derek Quinn scored an unconverted try at 7:00 to make it 12-10 Devils.  PW-IIB answered back with 2 trys, one converted to make it 22-12 and this is how it would stay. 

Final Score: Devils 12, PW-II-22 

1. Gambino
2. Angelo
3. Sweeney
4. Lynch
5. Ackley
6. Higgins, H (Nace)
7. Lemalu
8. Quinn
9. McCoy
10. Ferrari (c) (Martin)
11. Sherman (Wolokowski)
12. Higgins, M
13. Pastva
14. Glover
15. Van Nes

Man of the Match:  Cory Glover

Coaches Comments: Fine effort-you would have won if it was a regulation length game. Next time!  Hats off to John Wolokowski for playing his first match.