Fri, March 24, 2017
CHARLOTTE– The Providence Panthers Rugby Football Club suffered their second loss of the season at the hand of the South Mecklenburg Sabres 24-48.
“We just made too many stupid mistakes and weren’t able to capitalize on our opportunities. We had good possession of the ball, but our size got the best of us and their quickness just became too much for us to pull out a win”, said Junior Flanker Sam Patterson. “I’m just proud that his team never quit playing it’s hardest even when the odds were severely stacked against us. We just really need to stay disciplined and stop being lazy. I have no doubt we’ll turn it around by next week and finish out the year strong.”
The only scorer for Providence was Senior Mayowa Ogunmola who used his size and speed to add on 4 tries to his already impressive season total. Freshman Jack Whitney booted 2 conversion kicks through.
Providence started out well using their big bodies forwards to keep possession of the ball and run many phases up the field. Stupid mistakes caused them to turn the ball over consistently and South Meck was able to capitalize on many Providences errors. One bright light on Providence was Mayowa Ogunmola, who not only carved up the defense for two tries in the first half, but also had some stellar stops on defense. Providence went into halftime down two scores.
The second half was a hard fought defensive battle between both sides. Both defenses played very strong with neither team able to have any breakthroughs. Then off four consecutive penalties, South Meck was able to advance the ball down field and score. Providence came back with a long score from a 40 meter run from Mayowa Ogunmola. Providence had come back within 10 of South Meck, but playing with only 13 due to injury, Providence tired out towards the end of the game and their defense got sloppy. South Meck scored two more times, and with little time, left Providence was not able to come back.
Providence Rugby will be back in action on April 6th to face off at Myers Park.