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UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION |
Capitol City Clash grows to six teams This year's Capitol City Clash in Montgomery, Alabama marked the first tournament of the young season for those who attended. Those that didn't missed out on another year of southern hospitality at it's best, and some quality Rugby. The opening game of the round robin tournament featured a split squad battle of the Lakeshore Demolition's team. Their squad grew over summer as two of Tennessee's top players (3.0 Wayne Romero and .5 Eddie Crouch) fled the Tennessee QuadCrushers to play for the highly competitive Demolition who figures to compete for a National title this April.
Last years Capitol City Clash Champion Tampa General's would face the rebuilding Tennessee program now called the Titans. Tampa's zone press spotted them a 4-0 lead before calling off the dogs. A strong key defense was too much for the band of holdovers and rookies of the Titans as Tampa cruised to a 37-8 win. Tampa didn't go unblemished as their class 3.0 Mark Hickey went down hard in the key causing a deep gash on his elbow, which required ten stitches and put him in doubt for the rest of the tournament. The Demolition had a far less stressful game against a group of players from Mississippi that joined some remnants of Atlanta's team. They called themselves Atlanta Fourplay, and were soon outplayed by a superior team that had no mercy on the beginners. They opened a 22-0 lead behind a tenacious press, and went on to win 52-10. The Generals, without Mark Hickey's services played the TIRR Hurricanes. This was not the same Houston team they met in last years final. Leading the list of missing was National team standout 3.5 Brad Updegrove. Tampa was without their class 2.0's Dave Gould (shoulder injury), Darren Ransome and Hickey were able to handle the Cane's developmental line up in a 42-15 win to conclude Friday evening's play. Saturday's biggest game featured the Generals and Alabama's Foundation team. The big question for Tampa was Mark Hickey's availability, to play. He played briefly in Tampa's 36-13 win over Atlanta to test his stitched elbow. He gave his Coach the green light after coming off the court in that game. This made for an interesting game on paper as both teams started identical and rare point combinations. Tampa controlled the early lead and took a two-goal advantage when .5 Peter Schreiner scored the period's final goal. Tampa threw a variety of presses at the Foundation as they bulged to a 16-12 lead going into the third period. The Foundation began to crumble in the third period as the General's court knowledge took its toll. Tampa led 25-18 after three periods of play, and maintained that lead in a 33-26 victory. The Tennessee Titan's earned their first victory of their new era when they rolled past Atlanta 31-19. Houston however had no problems with the Titan's as they dropped them in a 52-25 count. Sunday would conclude round robin play and determine the final standings. The Foundation led off the schedule with an easy win over the Titan's. A relentless first quarter press put the Titan's down 3-13. It didn't get any better for Tennessee who eventually lost 9-41. The win insured third place for the four-man Foundation team. Houston won their second game of the tournament by defeating Atlanta 34-20 for 4th place honors. Tampa would now square with Lakeshore's Demolition for the Championship. At stake was an early move in the rankings perhaps, but also free accommodations the following year. The Demolition won the tip as they almost always do. They quickly went to Cliff Chunn who scored the first goal. An inbounding error cost the Generals another goal to fall behind 0-2. The Demolition created another score off a turnover to lead 3-0. Tampa fought back with two straight goals. Then Demolitions ferocious press propelled them to a five unanswered goal spurt to take an 8-2 lead. The period ended with the Demolition leading 13-6. This was a margin that would be hard to overcome, against the second ranked team in the nation. The Generals did a good job just to stay within seven goals until Lakeshore 3-goal run to end the half gave them a 22-13 first half lead. While Tampa's low pointers were doing an admirable job of containing picking Brooks and Kirkland, the high pointers (Joe Soares 3.5 and Hickey) were getting beat by Chunn and Kirkland. That was the tale of the tape as the Demolition portrayed their namesake in an impressive 44-29 victory. FINAL STANDINGS ALL-TOURNEY TEAM MVP Cliff Chunn - Demolition Special Thanks to Frederick Thomas and Montgomery Parks and
Recreation for putting on a great tournament. They hope to increase the number of teams
next year, and are also interested in hosting USQRA post season events. Well done |
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Top seeded Demolition had their hands
full with their sister team, The Foundation, who was seeded sixth. The higher seeded
Demolition featured last year's starting line up of Willard Brooks 2.5, Cliff Chunn 2.0,
Brian Kirkland 2.0, and Tommy Sullivan 1.0, while the Foundation's four man squad featured
controversial transfers Romero and Crouch with Bart Troxell 3.5 and L.L. Lee 1.0. The
Foundation took a two-goal lead in the first period. They were able to sustain that lead
as they went to the half time break leading 16-14. The Demolition had the luxury of
bringing in Tommy Greenhalgh 2.5 for any of the mid-pointers and Tommy Vinzant for
Sullivan. The turning point came in the third period when the Demolition who trailed 17-19
put together a four -goal run to lead 21-19. That was not the end as they closed the
period with a six- goal run to lead 28-21 with eight minutes to play. The makeshift
Foundation team battled back to pull within three with over three minutes remaining.
Despite no substitutions, the Foundation's improbable comeback continued when they went on
a three-goal run to trail by only one with just over a minute to play. Demolition managed
to work the clock to their favor while scoring the final goal to win 36-34. 