January 21- Arizona put their depth to the test and they responded on Saturday as Arizona Second XV defeated Stanford 76-17 at Sitton Field. Center/Flyhalf Robert Figley's 31-point day was the headliner, but there were several notable performances in the victory.

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Early on, it was the Arizona attacking shape that set the tone, with an early Stanford try responded to by two Figley penalties and a Jon Rogers try in the left corner to make it 11-7 and give the home side their first lead. Rogers' second try along with one from Riley Kerr put the Wildcats firmly in control, and Figley's try in the 28th minute that featured him running through a Stanford tackle was a highlight of the growth in the young player. Another standout on the day, Garrett Walker, touched down with a try of his own to make it 37-7 at the break.

 

With a perfect opportunity to rotate players and a tempting opportunity to take the foot off the gas, Arizona kept to their structure in both attack and defense, highlighted by a 50 meter try from Winger Jack San Pietro and a beautiful unders line by Steven Rohde that put him under the sticks, his first as a Wildcats. Lou MacLaughlin's kick forward on a bobbled Stanford ball sealed the win for the WIldcats, making it 59-7 with 10 minutes to play and giving the Wildcats their first PAC Conference victory of 2018.

 

"A ton of growth between January 5th and now" said Head Coach Sean Duffy "the two guys in paticular that jumped out for me were Figley in not just his foot but also his game management, and Billy Esposito who was a force in the lineout. They're actually roommates so I think you can see they're really buying in to the hard work and the results from that work were on display a bit today." Stanford, a PAC  conference affiliate member, technically served as the conference opener for the Wildcats, with the Cardinal playing a PAC West schedule as well. Arizona First XV was off for this week, and both of their sides will now have a bye before taking on UCLA and USC respectively next weekend in Southern California.
 

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Scoring vs Stanford

Tries: 10- J. Rogers (2), Kerr, Figley, Walker, San Pietro, Rohde, MacLaughlin, Davison, Fulton

Conv: Figley- 7/10

Pen: Figley- 4/4

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