Quad Rugby/Story - Capital City Clash

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

November, 2001

Sixth Annual Capitol City Clash
by Fredrick L. Thomas, CTRS

The Montgomery Therapeutic Recreation Center hosted it Sixth Annual Capitol City Clash Rugby Tournament in Montgomery, AL. Known for its great “Southern Hospitality”, the tournament grew last year from six teams to eight teams. The eight participating teams were the Tampa Generals, Team Texas, Kentucky TNT, Tennessee Titans, Roosevelt Rolling Thunder, Carolina Crash, Lakeshore Demolition, and Lakeshore Foundation.

The opening game of the tournament was between last year’s Capitol City Clash Champion Tampa Generals and the CIR Carolina Crash. A rebuilding year for Tampa loosing their coach (Terry Vinyard) to the Australians, the Generals gained confidence after beating Carolina 37-26. The powerful Lakeshore Demolition split their squad into two teams (Lakeshore Demolition & Lakeshore Foundation). Even with them dividing the teams, both teams had strong players that participated on the 2000 US Paralympic Rugby Team. Both teams began the tournament with dominant wins over their opponents. Team Texas also showed their force over the Tennessee Titans with Brad Updegrove leading them to a 54-21 victory.

After losing to the Demolition, TNT had a far less stressful game the second day of competition against the Roosevelt Rolling Thunder. The round robin pool play was almost over with three games remaining. One of these games was the Demolition versus the Foundation. The Demolition started the game against its sister team with a tenacious press that allow them to score three quick goals. Upon those unanswered goals, Wayne Romero and Lorenza Mitchell gained their composure to help their team. However, it was not enough for them to pull out a victory against a Demolition Wrecking Crew (Cliff Chunn, Willard Brooks, Bryan Kirkland, Bob Lujano, Lawrence Lee and Tommy Vinzant).

The Tampa Generals vs. Team Texas was the last game before the crossover games between pools began. This game was one the best of the tournament. Both teams were undefeated and were battling for first place in pool B. With round robin play completed in pool A, both teams knew they had two more battles to be in the championship game. The defending champions had a fight on their hands against the Texans. The first period was very close, with Texas leading by one goal. By the end of the second period, Texas opened their lead to 4 goals. Tampa tried to battle back during the third period by capitalizing on turnovers. However, this was not enough. The dream of a repeat for the Generals was slowly dissipating. Texas defeated the Generals 38-33.

Texas would now square off with the second place team of pool A, the Lakeshore Foundation. This also was in the pack of exciting games during the course of the weekend. The Foundation started the game with the first goal scored by Wayne Romero. Texas's Brad Updegrove then scored two goals putting them up by 1 goal. Texas managed to hold on to their 1 goal lead until the end of the second period. At the beginning of the third period, the Foundation was in the lead by two goals, 19-17. The Foundation began to crumble in the third period as Brad Updegrove took his toll scoring 8 of the 10 goals in that period. By the end of the fourth period, Texas roared back to win the game 39-36. With one game left to decide who would play Texas in the championship game, the undefeated Lakeshore Demolition took the floor against the Tampa Generals. A relentless first period put the Generals down 7-16. The Generals didn’t do any better the remaining of the game losing to the Demolition 27-51.

Sunday morning, four games left until the championship game. Awards were issued to the top four finishers. For the 3^rd/4^th place game, the Foundation met the Generals. With a night of rest and evaluation of previous games, Tampa defeated the Foundation for third place. The final dance was about to begin! Team Texas and the Lakeshore Demolition were ready for battle. Texas coach James Gumbert wanted to highlight his birthday with a win over the Lakeshore Demolition. Well, things did not go the way he would have dreamed. The loss of one his players leaving early to catch a flight, unforced turnovers, damaged chairs and the awesome strategy of Kevin Orr’s Demolition Wrecking Crew were all factors that cause the Texas team to be demolished by the Lakeshore Demolition. The Demolition defeated Texas in an impressive 60-31 victory.

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