WILDCATS DEFEND HOME TURF
#11 ARIZONA 46
#14 CAL POLY 22
Saxon Gerstl played a big role in the second half surge from the Wildcats. (Photo credits: Josh Pearson)
Nov 2- Arizona continued their Fall season on Saturday, with two D1A sides making the trip to Sitton Field. The Wildcats would take on Cal Poly as they looked to build on their shutout victory over Colorado two weeks ago, while Arizona 2nd XV would host Utah Valley.
The Wildcats would take advantage of an early Cal Poly penalty to capitalize in the set piece, building a maul that would push through the defense in the first minute as Aston Gradwick-Light opened the scoring. The roles would flip just a few minutes later as the visitors would seize on an Arizona penalty to end up in the Wildcat 22 and score after multiple phases to tie the match at 7 in the 10th minute. An Arizona turnover would create another attacking opportunity for the Mustangs, with a 24th minute try making it 14-5. “It takes time to build continuity, and these matches are helping us do that. We made some bad mistakes early but it set the stage for us to play a much better last 60 minutes against a really good side” said Director of Rugby Sean Duffy. That change in momentum would start in the forwards, with impact substitute Jacob Jaffe touching down from close range with Saxon Gerstl converting to make it 14-12. Soon after the Wildcats would take advantage of a penalty to get an attacking opportunity on the ensuing restart. Hooker Henry Langrish’s try in the corner after a well-worked maul would give the Wildcats their first lead at 17-14 in the 32th minute. Just before halftime, a turnover ball forced by the Arizona defense would set Jake Schumacher free down the touchline, with Isaac Morrill and Langrish moving the ball to the second-year wing as he continued his scoring run and extended the Arizona lead to 22-14 at halftime.
The second half would see a marked uptick in defensive pressure alongside the halftime adjustments. Some 22 attack from the Wildcats would result in a second score from Jaffe, before Tom Manning would put Nick Morgan through a gap for the long-distance try midway through the period. The 36-17 would create the distance needed for the home side, with a late try by Manning from short-range would make it 43-17. A Matteo Berenger penalty would lock up the 46-22 victory, moving Arizona to 4-0 on the young season. The strong victory from the 1st XV would come after the program’s 2nd XV would take the field, taking on Utah Valley in the curtain raiser match with a Henry Kliavkoff hat trick helping the hosts out to a 73-5 halftime score.
The combined margin of 157-27 on the day is a sign of things to come, but there is work left to be done as the team looks to close out the Fall over the next two weeks. “Our thanks to both UVU and Cal Poly for making the trip and for the matches. We’re getting some great efforts in important areas, and that is a great foundation for where we want to go. Now it’s about putting some finishing touches on some aspects and cleaning up some things for an important two weeks” said Duffy.
Arizona will make the short trip to Tempe to take on Arizona State next Saturday before meeting Lindenwood for a neutral site match in Glendale, Colorado on November 15.
Arizona's full schedule can be found here.
Arizona 46-22 Cal Poly
Tries: Jaffe (2), Gradwick-Light, Langrish, Schumacher, Morgan, Manning
Conversions: Gerstl- 4/6, Berenger- 0/1
Penalties: Berenger- 1/1
Arizona vs Cal Poly
1- Isaac Morrill
2- Henry Langrish
3- Dalton Slaughter
4- Chris Grosse
5- Matt Grau
6- Aston Gradwick-Light
7- Tanner DeMassa- VC
8- Aiden Kemp
9- Lucas Smith
10- Saxon Gerstl
11- Jake Schumacher
12- Tom Manning
13- Brody Johnson
14- Nick Morgan
15- Matteo Berenger- C
16- Logan Shea
17- Jack Kerrigan
18- Marcus Harris
19- Sean McNulty
20- Jacob Jaffe
21- Connor McIsaac
22- Will Rohrsheim
23- Parker Beilke
Arizona 2nd XV 111-5 Utah Valley
Tries: Kliavkoff (3), Heim (2), Postin (2), Hertstein, Kutcher, Butte, G. McKenna, Zapata, Al. Kemp, Caulfield, P. McKenna, O'Connor, Kawamura
Conversions: L. Barker- 9/11, Jansen van Vuuren- 4/6
2nd XV vs Utah Valley
1- Jack Lister
2- Carter Hertstein
3- Geno McKenna
4- Alex Kemp
5- Lachy Teissier
6- Henry Kliavkoff
7- Will Barrett
8- Braedon Butte- VC
9- Declan Postin
10- Lance Barker
11- Jackson Kutcher
12- Seth Catchpole- C
13- PJ Enegren
14- Emmanuel Magutakuona
15- Ethan Heim
16- Kai Caulfield
17- Dom Zapata
18- Jamie Clegg
19- Takumi Kawamura
20- Liam Parker
21- Jano Jansen van Vuuren
22- Peter McKenna
23- Brendan Doebel
24- Evan Cram
25- Nico Enegren
26- Jimmy O'Connor