The Jr Gents took on a well-coached Castle Rock team on at their brand new Rugby Field in Willits on Saturday.
Officiated by the leading referee in Colorado, Brighton Kuhlamun, a large crowd turned out to see the first home defense of their State Championship title. Right from the start Felipe Martinez powered through the visiting line fed with a high quality string of passes originating from Captain Matt Williams. Both sides set a frantic pace that seemed inevitable to start taking its toll on the players but both sides exhibited remarkable fitness and strength and were able to continue the pace throughout the entire match.
First blood went to the Jr Gents when Castel Rock infringed at the break down and Robert Hiles stepped up to slot the penalty for a 3 – 0 lead. Castle Rock impressed from here on, applying extreme pressure on the key player for the Gents, Williams, and in the scrum. Youngster Luke Prosence stepped up to alleviate pressure on his skipper both with his field kicking and his flat powerful running.
Inevitably the Castle Rock team equalized with a penalty with 10 minutes left in the half. The Juniors did exceptionally well to finish the half under pressure without conceding more points. The score was 3 – 3 at the half and there was a real contest on.
Castle Rock started the second half with penetrating running from their No 8, Bartlett Tomotio – who featured prominently throughout. The Jr Gents kept countering through stand out Skiers Hockey player, Matthew Ferguson and tough Ben Dunn but found themselves pinned on their own line for almost the entire half.
Great defense by Williams, Martinez and the non-stop Portillo, kept attack after attack at bay until wing Kyle Chairenzo finally scored for the Castle Rock team in the corner. Matt Wampler was injured tackling the scorer in the corner and left the field after a sterling performance.
10 minutes to go and it was end to end stuff with Olmero Marquez and Crystian Gonzales powering up the middle time and time again. A great and free flowing attack by the Jr Gents resulted in one final scrum under the visitors posts.
On the last play, with the Jr Gents down 8 to 3, Williams broke free from 3 tackles to dive under the posts and tie the game. With the last kick of the game, the ever-cool Hiles stepped up to slot the winning kick for a final score of 10 – 8. Game over and the Jr Gents remain undefeated for a long run dating back to February 2013.
Referee Kuhlamun kept the game flowing well and let the players play an open and spirited game throughout.
Enlisting students from the Roaring Fork Valley high schools, the Jr Gents take on the Wheatridge Warriors at Willits Rugby Field in Basalt on Saturday, April 5th for the second home game of the season.