Welcome to Old White’s New Site! Let’s Catch Up…
by: Jonny Rea
A lot has happened since we last saw each other, and of course there is much more to come. We are in the process of rebuilding and updating our website, so please bear with us as we get caught up on some things.
After returning safely from the full-club friendly trip to New Orleans, Old White’s D3 side kicked off the spring matrix with a dramatic home loss to cross-town rivals High Country RFC on the 12th of February. The match was close the whole way, especially in the second half as the teams traded the lead several times. However, it was the visitors who scored the final try to secure the win by a score of 36-31. High Country has shown impressive consistency in recent years as a force to be reckoned with in Division 3 in the southeast, and the city surely looks forward to continued high-level competition among its local clubs. The roster for that match was as follows:
Jose Barrera
Daryl “Tex” Leeson
Christian Suggs
Brandon Wilgore
Caleb Lindsey
Justin “Telly” Chappell
Kenny Green
Jon Garbin (c)
Alejandro Ospina
Austin Fernandez
Kennedy Edgerton
Richard Shore
Jarrod Byrne
Noah Cooper
Thomas Lawson
Ray Greenfield
Jeremy “Sumo” Swick
Tim Moody
Bryan Reski
Zach McAfee
Jonny Rea
Derek Grant
Tim Acker
Mike Williams
A week later, Atlanta hoped to bounce back with a full day of fun and winning rugby, but you can’t have everything you want. On February 19th, Old White traveled up to Lupo Field at Life University for a full-club friendly against the boys of Life followed immediately by a D3 “home” match against the combined team of the Gainesville Spartans and Athens Eagles. Like the match in New Orleans, this Life University friendly was an invaluable opportunity for players to get experience against a well-drilled group of impressive athletes and for the coaching staff to try players in new positions and see new combinations. The final score was Life University 53-22 Old White.
The D3 match afterward was another hard-fought back-and-forth battle like the week before. This time, however, Gainesville/Athens had an advantage. After allowing Old White to fight back to even the score at 32 late in the second half with a penalty, the visitors chose to maintain possession until full time and kick to touch to end the match, rather unceremoniously, in a draw. Having won all 4 of their previous matches, this kept them at the top of the table in the Georgia Rugby Union.
The fun continued for Old White’s Division 3 side just a week later as they played host to the Alpharetta Exiles. On a rain-softened pitch on a cool day with occasional sun, Atlanta got back into the win column in a big way. Despite the field conditions bringing the speed of the game down a notch or two, fullback Drew Moyes opened up the scoring for the home team within the first 2 minutes, and the team never looked back. Alpharetta was able to score a try in the first half on a mishandled bouncing ball that was kicked through into Old White’s try zone, but constant pressure in defense and yellow cards in the 27th and 60th minutes kept the visitors inside their own half. At the end of the day, Old White celebrated a 64-7 victory.
A demanding schedule and a few injuries picked up along the way forced Old White into a peculiar lineup, with a total of 9 front-row eligible players rostered. Tries were scored by Drew Moyes (2), Mitch Shea, Jarrett Gartin (2), Zach McAfee (2), Derek Grant, Jon Garbin, and Thomas Lawson. Carson McCraw converted 7 out of 10 tries. Mitch Shea was voted Man of the Match for his non-stop motor and play in the set piece. The roster for the match was as follows:
Jose Barrera
Mitch Shea
Christian Suggs
Tim Moody
Daryl “Tex” Leeson
Justin “Telly” Chappell
Zach McAfee
Stephen Tuitavake
Jarrett Gartin (vc)
Phil Thiel (c)
Derek Grant
Zack Jessell
Jon Garbin
Carson McCraw
Drew Moyes
David “Metro” Winiarczyk
Ray Greenfield
Jeremy “Sumo” Swick
Mike Williams
Thomas Lawson
Ike Owens
Menelik Zafir
UP NEXT: Old White’s D3 side (3-1-1) travels to Macon to take on the combined side of the Columbus/Fort Benning Cruise-a-Matics and Macon Love RFC.
