UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

December 2002

Valdosta-Lowndes Revisited
By TBWS staff writer

   What started out as a 200-mile drive North for the fledgling Tampa Generals and a 200-mile drive South for the fledgling Atlanta Shepherd Spinners on a steamy Saturday for a pre-season scrimmage has developed into an excellent tournament for many southern teams. Given it’s central proximity, Valdosta-Lowndes allows for a drivable tournament thus eliminating the two major logistical concerns of flights and transportation. This year seven teams braved the cooler than normal southern Georgia temps to continue the tradition of what has become the 13^th Annual Valdosta-Lowndes Cup.  

   The Top four division one teams, Demolition, Lightning, Generals and Carolina were all in pool A and would battle in a round robin format. In pool B Shepherd, South Florida and Augusta would fight it out in a double round robin format with the survivor earning the right to crossover and have a chance of knocking off the 4^th seed in pool A. 

   The opening game of the tournament at 9am Friday morning featured a pool B match that pitted the Shepherd Smash against the Augusta Riverhawks. The Smash led by 3rd year man, class 3.5 Ron Hart, although due to shoulder problems that leadership would have to come from the bench. The team also has received a lift from world-class water skier Bill Furbish who returns to a much drier venue after a 3-year hiatus from rugby. Bill was the only player at this year’s tournament who made that first trek to Valdosta during the summer of 89. Long time Atlanta player class 1.5 Barry Level adds some depth to the Smash, he along with Furbish participated in the first ever game between Atlanta and Tampa, the very first game in either team’s history, 2 months prior to the inaugural Valdosta meeting. The Riverhawks led by Mike Habercorn originally with Colorado, looked to knock off their intrastate rivals. It was not to be however, as the Riverhawks with a short bench couldn’t keep up with the Smash and fell 26-14. Furbish led all scorers with 11 goals. 

   The second game featured the Defending champion Lakeshore Demolition against the Carolina Crash. Lakeshore was without some of their firepower in guise of Romero, Chunn and Brooks although the guns they did bring, Kirkland, Lujano, and Crouch were locked and loaded. The new look Crash featured the coaching debut of Greg Taylor taking over for Mike Duda who has decided to devote more time to family matters, as well as a pair of 2.5 players, Patrick Ryan from Australia and Peter Martin from New Zealand. These changes weren’t enough to defeat the Demolition as they fell behind early and Lakeshore rolled to a 39-26 victory, their 11^th straight at Valdosta. 

   Next up pitted the South Florida Rattlers against the team from Augusta. The Riverhawks were no match for the snakes as right out of the gate 2.5 Alan Chartrand scored 13 of Florida’s 15 first quarter goals, Augusta could only manage 3 in those first 8 minutes. Coach Marco Dispaltro had to be impressed with his team’s great start and they finish equally strong as the continuing improvement of 2.5r Troy Weise was evident threw out the contest and solid play of Bishop and Harrison led to a 35-12 victory.

   The Tampa Generals had waited 8 months for another shot at the Hoveround Lightning and the first game of the tournament for each would give the Generals their long awaited shot at the team from Sarasota. Last season proved frustrating for Tampa as they played well enough on a couple of occasions to beat the Lightning, but just couldn’t close the deal. This time they would have to do it without the services of Mark Hickey who didn’t make the trip to Valdosta.

   Perhaps the return of Bill Renje, who hadn’t seen the court since his thrilling gold medal victory in Sydney as a member of the USA Paralympic team just over 2 years ago would be the spark the Generals were looking for. The answer to that question would come quickly as Renje was able to force numerous turnovers on the defensive end of the floor and again showed why he is still one of the toughest 1.5 tool players in the game. Playing alongside 1.0 Dave Ceruti, the Generals now have a solid anchor on defense. With the confidence of 3.5 Scott Burrows on the rise, solid play of Tampa’s class 2’s and the ever steady 2.5 Vi Vorasane along with new addition 17 year old Ryan Kress, the Generals hope to improve over last season.  

   Staring back from across center court the Lightning looked like they were in no hurry to give up a loss to the Generals. With the starting line-up of Pat O’Conner, Dave Jenkins, Mark Coller and Joel Post the Lightning were eager to keep their winning streak alive. Last season Tampa struggled to force turnovers against the Lightning, maybe today would be different. It was! Only, the Generals were just as inept at protecting the ball and that was most prevalent right after they had forced a turnover. In the end although it was another close battle, the Lightning win the turnover war 6-9 and the game 31-29.

   In the fifth game of the day South Florida remains undefeated as it hands Shepherd its first loss 35-23.

   With only one games rest, the Generals had to put the Lightning loss behind them and muster the effort to face a Lakeshore team although “shorthanded” seemed unbeatable. With a devastating array of speed and power by arguably the best 4 points in rugby, I wouldn’t be going out on a limb in saying perhaps the best 6 points in rugby; the Demolition demolished the Generals 46-37.  

   In the next to last game of the day the Lightning dispatched Carolina 36-29 to set up two important battles in day 2, Crash VS Generals to decide 3^rd and 4^th place in pool A and then Demolition VS Lightning to decide the pool championship.

   The first day ended just as it began with a victory for the Shepherd Smash over the Augusta Riverhawks 33-11. Goodnight everyone!

   Saturday dawned with a clear sky and the promise of warmer temperatures, and rugby enthusiasts would not be disappointed in the chamber of commerce weather that would befell them. First up, once again the Rattlers beat the Riverhawks 31-12 needing one more win to wrap up 1^st place in pool B and ensuring themselves the right to crossover later in the day to face the loser of the next game on the schedule, Tampa VS Carolina.

   The Generals were down early as they started the game pretty flat and it couldn’t have been a case of overconfidence having dropped their first 2 games of the tournament. Tampa was unable to deal with the speed and quickness of the imported 2.5’s or with the punishing play of all tourney class 3 Matt Crisp. Also, solid mistake free rugby put in by long time Carolina players 1.5 Mike Savicki and class 1 Chad Foster allowed the Crash to maintain their early lead through out the 32 minutes for a well earned 40-35 win. The Generals were also out played on the coaching end of things as first year skipper Greg Taylor notched not only his first victory as coach, but the team’s first win over Tampa.

   Over in the Déjà vu pool it was South Florida with their second go’ round with Shepherd, the Smash needing a 13-point victory to advance, instead a gutty effort could only produce a 14-point defeat 40-26. The victory meant that the 4-0 South Florida Rattlers would face the 0-3 Tampa Generals to remain in sight of the Valdosta-Lowndes Cup. That game would have to wait though as the combatants for the eagerly anticipated 1 seed Demolition and 2 seed Lightning took over center stage for their warm-ups.

   Lakeshore came out strong to start the game, as that has become their trademark of success for the past 4 seasons or so. The Lightning was quick to match that intensity, as they were ready to prove they belong in the land of the giants. Once again however, it was the Demolition who seemed to be the stronger unit, able to produce turnovers, all the while limiting their own. The Hoveround made a game of it for sure finally succumbing 39-34, knowing full well that although the pool championship had been decided they felt their chances were good if they got another shot at these guys.

   When the whistle blew at 3pm on Saturday it was the undefeated team from South Florida taking on a struggling Tampa team still searching for that sweet taste of victory that had eluded them a day and a half into the tournament. The history between these two teams stretch all they way back to a sweltering, abandoned warehouse in the mists of an early June heat wave in Miami where spray bottles and wet towels outnumbered participants 3:1. The year was 1993, and the PVA had just joined forces with the USQRA to host the first rugby clinic. Well, anyway there wasn’t much time for reminiscing, as there was newer business to attend to. The winner would have a chance to upset Lakeshore and a place in the final, the loser would be cursed on Sunday with, in the immortal voice of John Facenda the dreaded “ NFL FILMS PRESENT THE 9 O’CLOCK GAME”. “The ref whistles, chairs bang, the sound of cold steel echoes through the rafters of a lonely gym where roaches have just gone to bed and your own family won’t arrive until the horn screams signaling the end of quarter number 3”.

   Tampa finally seemed to right the ship playing much better collectively and although the Rattlers fought hard they were unable to avoid defeat falling 36-27.

   Back to the “hey didn’t we just play you guys” pool it was the Shepherd Smash lining up for a third time against the Augusta Riverhawks. The Smash completed the hat trick with another victory 29-18.

  Feeling good with their first win of the tournament under their belt the Generals had but an hour and a half to bask in that glory before a rematch in the semis against Lakeshore. Once again Tampa had no answer for Kirkland and Lujano, as they seemed to take over the game from the start refusing to allow the Generals any thought at all that they might have a chance at victory. After 32 hard-hitting minutes, the demolition was clear by 10 goals and in the final for the third straight year with a 45-35 win.

   The last game of day two at 7pm was the second semi final and again it was another rematch, this time it was between Hoveround and Carolina. This semi went much like the one that preceded it as it was the Lightning who took control early and cruised to a 49-36 win and a spot in their second straight final, nearly doubling their margin of victory from an earlier pool match-up against the Crash.

  At last Championship Sunday was here and the Valdosta-Lowndes Cup would soon be decided. First up it was South Florida VS Shepherd Smash with the division 2 cup on the line. This was the 3^rd meeting of the tournament between the two clubs and it was the Rattlers who earned the hat trick prevailing 43-27. They captured the division 2 championship with a 5-1 record, and were the first to hit I-75 on their 7-hour return trip south.

  Tampa hoped a good night’s sleep would allow for a better showing against Carolina in the battle for third place. The game plan would call for a mix of presses and half court defense to try and keep the Crash off balance. It was clear both teams were ready to put forth their best effort, few mistakes were made by either team throughout the contest and this game would prove to be the most entertaining of this year’s tournament. The back and forth affair gave the feeling early on that who ever scored last goal would win the game. That thought would prove prophetic as the Generals took possession with just over a minute and change left in regulation in a 29-29 tie, they protected the ball and when Vi Vorasane crossed the goal line there were but 6 seconds left on the clock for Carolina. A brilliant inbound by Chad Foster then a last second pass by Peter Martin from half court air marked for an unguarded Mike Savicki parked just inside the General’s key area came nervously close to completion. The ball, only inches out of reach sailed harmlessly between the cones and found the back wall of the gym. A collective sigh of relief for Tampa as they were able to finish an otherwise disappointing tournament on a high note and their 4- hour trek south on I-75 was made that much nicer. For Carolina their drive home would be filled with a few what ifs, but more importantly knowledge that they will definitely make some noise as the season progresses.

   Then there were two. The Lakeshore Demolition has cruised to the championship game with little difficulty and they are hungry to have their name engraved on the cup for a third time. The Lightning find themselves in the same position as last season, in the final facing Lakeshore. Their road to the final was somewhat tougher as they were tested by Tampa in game number one, given a battle by Carolina in their first meeting and then losing to the Demolition in a close hard fought battle. However, after easily dispatching the Crash in the semis the night before the ‘ning liked their chances of an upset and the prospect of their first Valdosta- Lowndes Cup. I thought to this point that Lakeshore although they had played pretty well had yet to play the complete game they were capable of and that can only happen if you get a total effort from everyone on the team, not just 2 or 3 players.  

   Coach Tommy Vinzant lit a fire under his young rookie class 3’s Maurice Rogers and Lorenza Mitchell who made the best of their PT this day. The sterling play of dynamic duo Kirkland and Lujano continued and when the Lightning did manage to contain them there was no hesitation to get the ball to their class 3 for a breakaway score. Steady Eddie Crouch added another chapter to his magnificent body of work, and in this writer’s mind continues to be the best player in the game. Couple that with solid efforts from Sully and LL and Vinzant had a complete game from his players. On a day when your opponent is playing so well it can get frustrating all you can do is play hard and hope sometime, somewhere you will get a chance at redemption. The Lightning did play hard, they are a good team, a proud team, and today perhaps their best still would have left them a little short. In the end Lakeshore captured their 3rd straight Valdosta- Lowndes Cup with a 42-33 victory and ran their undefeated streak at the tournament to 16 games.

  One final thought as I reflect on the number of trips to the Valdosta area over the past 13 years and that is this; although players and the teams change from year to year the dedication of volunteers remain a constant. It is through their tireless efforts that allow a tournament to be successful and stand the test of time. Who knew that what seemed to be just a simple scrimmage game so many years ago would not only develop into a tournament, but a tournament that just blew out the candles on it’s 13th birthday.

   A gracious thank you goes out to Sportaid, a long time sponsor of this event and also to the Valdosta Lowndes Community Affairs and Parks Department for their tremendous efforts.     

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