The Warren County High School Pioneer rugby team played the late game Thursday night, taking on the Siegel Stars at Nunley Stadium.
In a tight-knit contest, the Pioneers fell one try shy of a win as the Stars made one last score for the victory, 22-17.
“Last night was an amazing night of rugby for Warren County. The boys team had a hard-fought contest against Siegel,” said WCHS coach Jonathan Smith. “Although the boys did not come out of that contest with a victory, we did make steps toward getting that victory in the future. The coaching staff is extremely proud of the effort and the overall performance of the players in this game.”
The Stars had just a step on the Pioneers, who fought the good fight, having three tries and a successful conversion totaling 17 points. Siegel found its way over the line one more time as time expired on the game clock.
“The boys have worked hard to get to the point that we are right now and deserve the credit for getting us going in the right direction as a program,” said coach Smith. “We are confident we will build on what we have learned from the game and that we will keep executing our game plan to ensure we keep moving forward as a program.”
Having built up the participation, the boys team’s future is looking bright with 21 players on the roster currently.
The Warren County boys rugby team will play host to Riverdale on Thursday for senior night at Nunley Stadium. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
Members of the 2017 WCHS Pioneer boys rugby team are: Robert Balderas, Jamison Boyd, Christian Castro, Chris Barnhill, Tony Craig, Elijah Craven, Kevin Fernandez, Jordan Hammond, Francisco Hernandez, Sam Hobbs, Logan Holman, Zebediah Loftis, Luke Nafrada, Kolin Roberts, Kaleb Smith, Keshion Conaway, Justin Bennett, Alex Onate, Kendall Winton, Tucker Cantrell and Eathan Valdivia. Head coach Jonathan Smith, coach Adam Brown and coach Chuck Catalfu provide leadership for the 2017 team.