Last week was a busy one Grade 8 Raptors rugby team of Betty Gilbert Middle School as they had three match days in a five day span.
On Monday the Raptors traveled to Brookswood to face the Bobcats. Although Brookswood has been unable to participate in league games due to insufficient numbers, they have been doing well in small sided exhibition matches. The Grade 8s played two periods of 7-a-side and another two of 12-a-side. Some very open, hard hitting rugby was played, and BGMS was fortunate to come out of the exhibition on the right side of a 22-17 score.
Tuesday saw the Raptors resume league play against the Cougars of Clayburn Middle School in Abbotsford. True to form, the Raptors opened early with a Jake Thiel try, only to ease off and let the opposition back into the game. BGMS found themselves in unfamiliar territory on this day, as some shaky defense and lacklustre rucking allowed Clayburn to take the lead, a position the Raptors had yet to be in this season.
Some hard running by Josh Thiel saw the Raptors pull within two, and the conversion knotted the score at 12. Jordan Spaan and Adam Newbigging began to assert themselves more at the rucks, allowing Corey Reid to get the ball to the backs cleanly, which eventually resulted in Ash Hotti touching down in the corner to put the Raptors up by a try.
Injuries began to take their toll, with Nathan Dahl sidelined after some stalwart running from fullback. Quinn McKitrick narrowly missed diving on a loose ball in-goal, but the Cougars counterattacked and tied the score again.
From there, the Raptors poured it on and the relentless pressure saw Sang Nguyen score twice in five minutes while narrowly missing a third. Clayburn scored again late, but the cushion the Raptors had built was too much, and they won their most challenging game of the season by a 29-22 score.
Finally, on Friday, a smaller BGMS contingent traveled to Eugene Reimer Middle to compete in the Grade 8 Fraser Valley 7-a-side tournament. Though this was a new form of the game to most of the players, the team enjoyed the event immensely.
It was a slow start to the day, and the Raptors were handled easily by first their counterparts from Eugene Reimer Middle, and then the team from Earl Marriott Secondary. Gradually the Raptors started moving the ball around more, and saw victory in their third pool game against one of the two teams from W.A. Fraser Middle. This left them to playoff for fifth place against H.D. Stafford Middle.
The sides were evenly matched with size and speed. Both teams were showing their fatigue, though, and the game’s pace slowed as each team repeatedly set rucks and abandoned traditional sevens structure. Stafford scored an unconverted try part way through the second half and this looked to be the difference as BGMS was assessed a penalty for offside with no time on the clock.
However, the Stafford kick failed to find touch and the best passing sequence on the day left Corey Reid two defenders to beat. Some shifty running left both Stafford players grasping at air as he touched down beneath the posts to tie the score at 5-5. Josh Thiel calmly put the conversion over and the BGMS Raptors celebrated, pleased with their dramatic fifth place finish. The Raptors seven-a-side squad was: Clayton Churchill, Josh Thiel, Jake Thiel, Corey Reid, Kaedn Forrest, Sang Nguyen, tourney team MVP Tom Sandberg, Josh Desrosiers, Gurshaan Jhaj, Nathan Dahl, and Wes Foss.
The Raptors have a well deserved week off from competition before closing out the regular season at home on Tuesday, April 26th against Abbotsford Middle School.