High-school Rugby: Resolute Defense, Individual Brilliance Bring Dexter Victory in Flint

Dexter Rugby Football Club’s high-school team, the Dexter Devils, secured a hard-won victory over a strong Genesee Elite side on Wednesday with a combination of determined defense and great individual plays. The Eastern Division of the Michigan Youth Rugby Association’s high-school league is much tighter this year than in recent seasons, as Dexter’s three-point victory over Dearborn and two-point loss to Birmingham had indicated, so there were plenty of anxious faces among the Dexter supporters who gathered at Wiley Middle School for the drive north for the key match in Flint. Also contributing to their anxiety was the knowledge that Dexter’s squad, already much smaller than the squads that went to the State Championship matches in 2013 and 2014, was further depleted by injuries: three-quarter Tyler Smokotitz (Detroit CC, Sr) sustained a season-ending injury at practice last week; lock Derek Melinksy (DHS, Sr) and winger Angelos Bairactaris (DHS, Sr) are still out. Furthermore, the Flint side, victorious at Troy in their one league match so far this season, was an unknown quantity, having been promoted from Division II last year.

There was yet another troubling thought for Dexter’s coaches and fans: the Devils had scored just two tries in two league matches so far, and only one of them was on offense, and the last match had been try-less. For all the evident talent in the back line, Dexter’s three-quarters had not been able to move the ball with consistency and the Devils’ wingers had often been starved of possession. Meanwhile, Dexter’s pack, usually struggling against a heavier opponent, had not always been able to control its own ball.

For the Flint match coaches Paul Burke and Doug Karaska (the latter absent from the match itself after the birth of his twins the day before) decided to make some changes in the search for consistent ball movement, so Dexter lined up with its half-backs swapping position -- Tristin Staebler (DHS, Sr) went to scrum-half and Neil Makin (DHS, So) to fly-half, with captain Jake Rayer (DHS, Sr) at inside centre and Derek Wittenberg (DHS, Sr) at outside centre, Luke Sagmeister (DHS Sr) and Torin Bates (DHS, Jr) on the wings, and Adam Haas (DHS, Sr) at fullback. In the pack, which has fought valiantly all season despite often being significantly lighter that the opposition, Nick Hubbard (DHS, Sr) and a returning Noah Keen (DHS, Sr) were the props, with Tyler Even (DHS, Jr) hooking; Justin Tomshany and Aidan Hochrein (both DHS, Srs) in the second row, Nathaniel Orlowski (DHS, Jr) and Erick Leon (DHS, SR) at flanker and Chris Bryson, celebrating his eighteenth birthday at no 8 (DHS, Sr). At half-time Spencer Vollmers (DHS, Sr) came in for Keen.

The opening minutes of the match had a familiar feel: Dexter superior in possession and territory, but unable to turn that superiority into points. The half-back experiment proved short-lived, with Makin returning to scrum-half and Staebler to fly-half after a few minutes, but there was still no joy for the Devils until, after twenty minutes, a Genesee forward was penalized for dangerously lifting and dropping Keen in the tackle (an infraction that could well have led to a ten-minute sin-binning). Captain Rayer chose to kick for goal, although the mark was some forty metres out and wide of the posts. He struck the ball beautifully and the Dexter touchline erupted as it sailed comfortably over: at the high-school level, in a pressure match, a tremendous penalty goal. However, the 3-0 lead did not last long. Five minutes later, Dexter lost a heel against the head (Genesee’s scrum was powerful and regularly disrupted Dexter’s set-pieces, although some spectators thought that the opposition forwards seemed to be pushing early at virtually every put-in); they moved the ball efficiently and powerfully, taking it in from twenty-five metres out and then converting the try. Dexter’s frustrations were evident when the referee had to summon Makin, the slightest Dexter player, and threaten him with the sin-bin, after he had vociferously objected to what he thought was far-from-the-first offside play at the scrum from his opposite number. Although fortunate not to have been obliged to leave for ten minutes, Makin did get some relief for the rest of the match, as the referee chose subsequently to penalize the Genesee scrum-half for several offside tackles. The Devils moved the ball wide better than in previous matches, but could find little space on either wing. Left wing Sagmeister, a powerful tackler and runner, produced a fine run, hauling in a Genesee punt around the Dexter twenty-two-metre line and taking the ball deep into opposition territory, but the Devils could not cash in, while right-wing Bates ran ferociously in tight spaces and was excellent on defense, as was the man inside him, Wittenberg.

With Genesee leading 7-3 at half-time the match was clearly in the balance, but, since another 30 minutes had passed without the Devils crossing the try line, there was no shortage of concern among the away fans. About ten minutes into the second half Rayer kicked another long penalty to make the score 7-6 and calm Dexter nerves a little (although there was also regret over some missed opportunities with the boot), but there was still no try, and Genesee was matching Dexter drive-for-drive. The turning point came as Genesee’s line attacked down the Devils’ left wing: Staebler, moved to centre to defend in the open field, saw an inviting pass, stretched his long legs, extended his long arms, took the interception elegantly in stride, and strode another seventy metres downfield to the Genesee try line for Dexter’s first try in two matches. However, an 11-7 lead (there was no conversion) was hardly secure. Indeed, without two outstanding open-field tackles from fullback Haas, Dexter might already have conceded two more tries.

As it was, good ball movement across the entire pitch still brought Genesee the go-ahead try late in the match, but, since it, too, was not converted, Dexter needed only three points to retake the lead. More tremendous kicking from Rayer put the Devils in the perfect position to score not three points but five, when his punt from well within the Dexter half went right into the corner on the right wing. At the ensuing five-metre lineout jumper Hochrein looked to have the ball until, as Devils’ fans saw it, there was clear (and illegal) contact in the air, but the referee saw it differently and the ball was lost to Genesee, who cleared. A fine run from Even, who burrowed out of a maul and charged twenty-five metres, had got Dexter close to the Genesee in-goal area, as had a power drive from birthday boy Bryson, but in both cases Dexter could not keep the ball and the opportunities were lost. With five minutes to go, however, the Devils were awarded a penalty under the posts fifteen metres out. Rayer, having missed a couple earlier that looked easier than his splendid first goal and having failed with what would have been the winning penalty against Birmingham, was under huge pressure, but he played his captain’s role to perfection and split the uprights. The remaining minutes ticked by all too slowly for the Dexter fans, but their side was strong in defense, where Orlowski and Hubbard stood particularly tall all match: Orlowski closed down virtually all Genesee’s attempts to move the ball from the scrum through their eight-man, while Hubbard played the terrier up front. No-side finally came – perhaps appropriately – when Dexter’s scrum-half, taking the ball from the scrum, was flattened by his opposite number offside, and the Devils and their fans breathed deep sighs of relief.

As is the custom in Michigan high-school matches, a “third half” was played after the match, enabling every squad member of each team to play. Since both squads were small, a short Rugby Sevens match was the chosen format. Forwards Andrew Harding and Clayton Drenner (both DHS, Srs) and backs Jared Juback (DHS, Sr), Sean Wakefield (DHS, Jr) and new man Garrett Mason (DHS, So) showed off their skills alongside a spirited, but exhausted Hubbard and Keen, and a lively Even. Dexter won easily, with fine tries from Juback and Even, excellent running and tackling from speedster Wakefield and the promising Mason, and good work from the Devils’ front men.

In comments after the victory, Coach Burke praised his team’s improved decision-making and the character that brought a come-from-behind win, but noted that “points were still left out on the field”. He thought Dexter’s rucking was much better than against Birmingham, although he wanted the forwards to be quicker to available ball, praised Rayer’s kicking and Staebler’s try (scored on a dodgy hamstring), but repeated his call for offensive production.

Dexter’s next match is a local derby with Brighton, at Scranton Middle School, on Tuesday, 5 May, at 6 p.m. (NOTE TIME CHANGE), while the Devils’ next league match is against Troy at home -- Manly Bennett Field, Merrill Road, Hamburg -- on Wednesday, 13 May at 6 p.m. With playoff berths at stake in a very tight division, local support will be especially welcome. Indeed, spectators are always very welcome, as are new players (the squad practices Monday-Thursday at 5 pm, either at Webster Church field in Dexter or, on evenings before matches, at Manly Bennett field in Hamburg).

Dexter’s squad list, with further details of the Dexter Rugby program, may be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lsw6yjvxtvhit0h/DRFC%20Team%20Sheet%202015.pdf?dl=0. For further information on Dexter Rugby, go to the Facebook page for “Dexter Rugby” or to the club web site: www.dexterrugby.com. Follow DRFC on Twitter @DexterRugby. Photo credits: Gina Bryson.