Santos Score Four Second-Half Tries at Home
Aardvarks Win 85-33
April 10, 2022
Los Santos of the Santa Fe Rugby Club lost their last match of the spring season against Albuquerque’s Aardvarks but finished on an optimistic note by scoring four of their five tries in the second half. The visitors meanwhile parlayed their 47-7 halftime lead into an 85-33 win against a Santos side with no quit in them.
In an important sense the Santos won a bigger challenge by completing a uniquely short playing window wedged between winter at 7,000 feet and the dictates of the national club playoff schedule. Faced with a profound number of recent retirements, the club succeeded in fielding a squad for every one of six consecutive weekends of Southwest Rugby Union competition.
On a bright Saturday made for rugby Los Santos were more than equal at scrum time and lineouts were a reasonably reliable source of possession throughout. Santa Fe consistently won the first few and on occasion, several more attacking rucks, but seemed to lack the finishing punch to score before eventually turning the ball over. Several times those turnovers resulted in long scoring breaks for the opposition, which gave the scoreboard (we need a scoreboard -ed.) a distorted sense of visitor dominance.
Santa Fe trailed by 12 by the time elegantly-sculpted tighthead prop Dylan Merrigan forced his way over the line after 15 minutes. Reliable #10 Mark Woodward booted the easy conversion. The Aardvarks went on to touch down five more tries in the opening 40 minutes for a 47-7 bulge.
Los Santos managed four more tries in the second half amid a continuing barrage of Aardvark scores. The visitors capitalized for seven points from a turnover on the opening kickoff but Santa Fe recovered to carry play deep into the other end on the strength of a remarkable break by rapidly-developing lock Jeremy Lithgow, followed up strongly by his mates. The close-range pressure proved too great for the Aardvarks, who bailed out of the situation by conceding a penalty try, 54-14.
The Santos drove deep after another unconverted Aardvark try at 12 minutes, and after making eye contact with Mateo Cardiel lurking on the wing, veteran Armando Herrera sneaked a grubber behind the visitors’ backline for the sleek racer to streak through and touch down. Woodward’s kick into a crosswind curved beautifully through the sticks, 59-21.
The visitors piled on another three tries before Mr. Herrera counted coup on a prolonged forwards’ assault on the line, which with Woodward’s kick brought matters to 80-28.
Appropriately Los Santos’ season scoring was completed with a try by master flyhalf Cory Micander soon after coming on to finish the match. Once again the home team wrung repeated penalties out of the visitors, resulting in Micander’s exploitation of an overload on the flank. Final 85-33.
In a late-breaking development, Los Santos won the third-half Boat Race at Santa Fe Brewing Co’s. Mateo Cardiel was named SF’s Man of the Match by a mysterious cabal, who were forced to admit each and every Santo added luster to his image.
The Aardvarks, who played with skill and at times flair, appear to be peaking at the right time. With a 6-0 Rio Grande division record achieved on the back of successive dominant wins (92-5 vs. Brujos April 2), they will take a week off before heading into the Southwest Rugby Football Union playoffs in Phoenix on the weekend of April 23-24. Rumors have it some Santos are planning to attend. It was not known at press time whether golf is in the itinerary, but pool time seems unavoidable.
According to this scribe’s creaky calculations, Santa Fe finishes their campaign with a season tally of 6 SWRFU competition points: one bonus point for a loss of less than seven points at home against El Paso on March 19; 3 points for their win 39-27 home win over Brujos March 26, with 1 bonus point added for scoring four tries; and 1 bonus point for tallying at least four tries in the season closer against Aardvarks.
Starting team
1. Jack Lastovka
2. Dan Allinder
3. Dylan Merrigan
4. Angel Villa
5. Jeremy Lithgow
6. John Bent
7. Jason Osborn
8. Ryan Weir (capt.)
9. Mateo Cardiel
10. Mark Woodward
11. Skip McGee
12. Rainer Ball
13. Jaime Terrazos Lozano
14. Levi Caizza
15. Isaiah Sanchez
Replacements: Ryan Means, Steve Totter, Armando Herrera, Justin Stallworth, Cory Micander
