Barbarians at Hartwick College 2010

The second half. After third quarter squabbling subsided, the Barbs made great headway by running inside from the breakdowns and with the eight-man pickup. Big Dave Buchanan and The Mazz set up many a productive backline move with trampling runs as the second half progressed. The pack asserted itself in the scrum and at the breakdowns. The backs made some moves along the right sideline, but the real gains came in the center of the field from The Dude and Rich Mathy, both of whom touched down in the second half. Good support saw flanker President Joe touch one down as well.

The first half. Caramba…scrums were high, passes were wild, balls were dropped, decisions were suspect…the entire team seemed out of sorts. Hartwick was unlucky not to score more than its opening-moments penalty kick, so enterprising and determined were its forays into Barbarian territory. Testimony, one supposes, to the team’s commitment to defense. Still, had the match been played at regulation-width Sandy Beach, the score would have looked very different at halftime.

The Barbs came together in the second half and put through three tries and two conversions to salt away a game that was much closer than the team anticipated. Hartwick never quit, never slowed down, and never stopped bringing the heat. If the field hadn’t been a postage stamp (albeit a very scenic, idyllic, no doubt limited-edition postage stamp), their fitness and aggression most likely would have seen them score a lot more points. Counterattacking was, again, excellent, and produced another soaring try from fullback Mathy, and once it was apparent that there would be no rounding the corner on that field, The Dude’s rampaging running opened up many an attacking possibility in the middle of the field. After an off week against Cortland, Launchpad found the range at Hartwick (the rarified altitude, perhaps?) and hit 3 of 4 conversion attempts…points the team was relieved to notch up. Productive defense, solid decision-making, enterprising tries…it was a great second half for a team without many a starting player and many new faces that, of necessity, were pressed into service. Congrats (and thanks!) to them for some great play in unfamiliar positions, but a wag of the finger to the many instances of bickering and arguing amongst the more senior Barbarians, especially as the second half commenced. Frustration may have been the culprit, but there were a few instances where the ire seemed at the brink of disintegrating any momentum the team was building. A couple tries soothed some fevered brows, but it shouldn’t take points to maintain team cohesion. We’re not the Dallas Cowboys, after all…

At any rate, thanks also to the Hartwick players that agreed to ref the match and put up with the abuse. Though some voices were raised as the game went on, both did as good a job as many a “certified” NYS ref and their effort and fortitude are much appreciated. Thanks for a great game, Hartwick!