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Syracuse Captures Men's Division III Club Title - Oct 30, 2006
NYS Division III Club Championships Recap

NYS Division III Club Championships Recap

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NYS Division III Club Championships Recap
October 28-29, 2006
Buffalo, NY
Submitted by: John McGowan (South Buffalo)

In the first game, South Buffalo took on Rochester in the blustery conditions of Father Conway Field. Starting out with a vengeance, Rochester made it clear that they wanted to avenge their early season loss to the Thugs. South Buffalo scored a couple early but were unable to capitalize on the conversion due to the windy conditions. At the half, the score was 10-0. To begin the second half, Rochester came back with a vengeance, pushing the ball consistently deep in the South Buffalo half of the field only to be turned back with a timely kick or long run. After finally converting possession into points to make the score 15-10, Rochester again looked to capitalize on field position with another try. With a scrum in the South Buffalo end, South Buffalo's scrumhalf faked and ran forty meters into Rochester territory before unloading it to Jim Truby for the insurance try. South Buffalo held on to win 22-10.

For the second game, NYS saw a spirited Cortland squad take the field against the defending champs Syracuse for the right to play South Buffalo in the championships the next day. Although starting off on the right foot, Cortland was unable to keep up with the Chargers and saw them pull out to an insurmountable lead. All this did not stop the Thundering Herd from their intense level of play. They consistently out-hit and out-hustled the Chargers in almost every aspect of the game. The biggest difference was the obvious experience level the Chargers brought to the field making sure to convert on every Herd miscue or mistake. After hitting a 50 meter penalty kick by Dave Seabast, Syracuse walked off the winner in a 60-5 contest, earning the right to play on Sunday.

On Sunday, with the weather certainly not getting better, South Buffalo and Syracuse met for the second time in 2006, the first being in the regular season when South Buffalo ended Syracuse's intra-league winning streak 20-17 on a rain soaked pitch in South Buffalo. This was a rematch which both team wanted and deserved. In a see-saw battle, both teams threw out everything they had to stop the other. South Buffalo, playing without fly-half Dave Sion, Prop Jeff Michel and Scrumhalf John McGowan, went up to begin with a heroic try from Flanker Jim Truby, breaking nine tackles and dragging three Chargers into the try-zone with him. Truby would later add to this tally with one more try. Also scoring for the Thugs was Patrick Clancy and Glenn Nenof bringing South Buffalo's tally to 20 points on the day. After the halftime, Syracuse truly pulled itself together and became more focused and disciplined after a uncharacteristic tongue-lashing from the ref. Syracuse tallied up 30 with tried coming from Chris Robyns, Steve "Taco" Pantoja, Dave Sebast, and Mark Schermerhorn adding two more of his own. With conversions and a penalty kick from Sebast, Syracuse accumulated 32 points on the day.

Syacuse accepted the 1st Place trophy for the 5th year in a row. South Buffalo saw its best finish in its current incarnation, going undefeated in the regular season just two years removed from a winless campaign. Overall, NYS saw the level of play improve greatly upon years past. As Syracuse and South Buffalo progress in the Northeast Regionals, it will be interesting to watch how the level of play matches up throughout the region.

MVP was awarded to Chris Robyns of the Syracuse Chargers.

Scores
Semifinal #1: South Buffalo 22, Rochester 10
Semifinal #2: Syracuse 60, Cortland 5

Championship Game: Syracuse 30, South Buffalo 22

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Posted Until Dec 31, 2006

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