Utah Valley Finishes Strong Against Weber State
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The Utah Valley Wolverines got their fall semester off to a great start with a 38-0 win over the Weber State Wildcats today in Ogden.
The two teams are familiar foes, regularly competing against each other in the Utah Rugby Union Division 2 competition. It was the first league game for both teams this semester and that was plain for all to see as the first phase of play had a decidedly scrappy feel to them. As each team started to settle in, the continuity came back and multiple attacking phases were starting to be strung together. Utah Valley had it’s fair share of attacking chances throughout the first spell, but found themselves coming up a pass short on several occasions. Weber State took a more direct approach and targeted the areas close to the rucks as the weak point in the Utah Valley defense. But for either teams attacking endeavors, the defense always came up the winner and the sides went into the water break at half time tied at zero.
Utah Valley No8 Josh Pukahi attempts a flying tackle against Weber State
The second half brought completely different fortunes for one team as Utah Valley came out focused on the task at hand. An attacking penalty 10 meters out from the line brought the first scoring play of the match. Utah Valley had an overlap to the right, but it was the straightening line of the hooker, Viliami Fonohema that busted through a tackle and scored next to the uprights. The second came shortly after with a wayward penalty shot from kicker Joe Carnation going a long way to the right and center Dan Ottesen showing great awareness to scoop up the live ball and dot down for the try.
With Weber State starting to tire and Utah Valleys confidence up they began to spread the ball around a lot more. A long skip pass found prop Mo Mitani all alone on the right wing 25 meters out from the line and after some great individual skill, the speedy front rower beat four Weber defenders and coasted in for the try. Mitani’s try was followed by one each to flyhalf Johnny Schumacher and flanker Robert Jenny, both benefiting from the sustained pressure multiple attacking phases had provided. Utah Valley finished the game with a slick back line move that featured a perfectly thrown skip pass from Schumacher that found winger Miles Sage running with pace down the left touch line and gave him the time to step the last defender and cross for Utah Valley’s sixth try of the half.
Kicker Joe Carnation finished off a solid day with 8 points, kicking 4 of 6 conversions attempted and was 0 of 2 on penalty attempts, although one wayward attempt did result in a try. The teams focus now shifts to the first home game of the year against Snow College next week in a rematch of the Utah Rugby Union Championship from the previous season. This will be a big challenge for the team, but will be a valuable game in the lead up to the Colorado State game in the coming weeks.
