Rugby Takes 44-29 Victory Over Davenport
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After a tight first half, Arkansas State University came back strong and cruised to a 44-29 win over tough Mid-South Conference foe Davenport University in men’s college rugby here Saturday afternoon.
“I really thought we played how we wanted and controlled the tempo of the match,” said A-State head coach Blake White. “Our defense was outstanding for most of the game with a couple of slip ups and Davenport made us pay.”
Three Red Wolf players were able to score the try in the opening period, including Calvin Gentry, Ruan Knuppel and Tanner Pope. However, Davenport stayed close and A-State took a narrow 21-19 lead in at the halfway point.
Arkansas State came out in the second half with Pedro Alvarez scoring twice and Zach Young adding another successful try. Brandon Rokela converted five tries and finished the day with two penalty conversions.
“Pedro and Tanner were absolute standouts in defense as well as very hard runners today for us,” added White. “Our set piece started off a little sloppy, but once we got rolling and stopped giving away penalties, we were very hard to stop.”
A-State will host the University of Texas in the fall season finale, Saturday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m. at Curt Huckaby Field.
