Pygmies defeat alumni

By Dave Wheelock
New Mexico Tech Rugby Coach

The New Mexico Tech’s student team won a battle of contrasting rugby styles in Friday’s 49ers homecoming match to score a 55-32 victory over Tech’s alumni.
The Pygmies will attempt to conclude their fall season Saturday as they take on the New Mexico State University Chiles in Las Cruces . Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. After four minutes of play, the students took advantage of a turnover by their elders to ship the ball to veteran fullback flier Isaiah Sanchez, who crossed the line for the game’s first try. Jay Herrera booted the conversion and the Pygmies took a 7-0 lead.
A physically imposing set of Ancestor forwards featuring former Pygmy greats Denny Newell, James Napier, Habib Guerrero, Brendan La Count, Matt Majors, Tory Tadano, and Dylan Merrigan drove the Pygmies backward in the opening scrums, forcing student scrumhalf Herrera to scramble with his passes to the backline. But the Pygmies thrived on what ball possession they could get from Ancestor kicks or lineouts thrown to Matt Kretz and Graham Payne, always striving to lateral the ball wide for their speedsters to advance. After ten minutes flyhalf Royce Beaudry took the last pass to score after a lightning attack by his mates covered the entire length of the field.
Ancestor scrumhalf Seth Daly got the veterans on the scoreboard at 12-3 after 20 minutes with a long penalty kick, but minutes later, the Pygmies went up 19-3 when big inside center Nick Aldape spotted a gap and cruised a full 50 meters to score. Dylan Merrigan, a current graduate student player at Colorado School of Mines, smashed his way to a short range try soon after to pare the students’ lead to 19-8. But then Beaudry and Sanchez each added tries in the waning minutes before halftime to up the lead to 31-8.
The Ancestors dominated ball possession and registered two tries early in the second 40-minute period. With the Ancestors trailing 31-20 with a half hour remaining, the Pygmies responded, first by working the ball to wing Mason Timm, who scored. Outside center Dustin Webb kicked the conversion and less then two minutes later, Beaudry sped 50 meters out
The Ancestors answered with a try from Mike Anguti (converted by Daly) to make it 41-27 before the Pygmies’ man of the match Jay Herrera stepped in front of an Ancestor pass and motored 80 meters to claim an intercept try converted by Webb. Minutes later, Beaudry added his fourth try of the day when he followed up abreakaway by Herrera. Webb was good with the conversion kick for a 55-27 student lead, but the Ancestors had the last word when outside center Pat Simons, scored from 30 meters out.

Pygmies defeat alumni