Spalding rugby completes a perfect season with the MIAA crown
The Cavaliers lead wire-to-wire in decisive victory over Calvert Hall
by Derek Toney
While one Archbishop Spalding athletic dynasty was derailed, another kept rolling Wednesday.
The Cavaliers won the MIAA rugby championship for the second consecutive year with a 33-15 decision over Calvert Hall at Mount St. Joseph’s Pleyvak Field.
Spalding completed a perfect season (10-0) as Reid Gerber, Jon Kandrac, Zach Longfellow, Quentin Piccoli and Connor Woodward each scored a try for the Cavaliers, whose baseball team’s bid for a fourth A Conference championship was denied by Calvert Hall, which completed a two-game semifinal sweep Wednesday afternoon.
Spalding rugby led wire-to-wire in the early evening hours Wednesday against the Cardinals.
“It’s a team win. We've got 16 seniors that’ve been with us three or four years,” said Cavaliers coach Chad Newcomb. “We were able to win handily with eight substitutions.”
“We knew what we had to do.,” said Gerber, a junior.
Woodward barrelled in for the game’s first points four minutes into regulation play, followed by Gerber’s kick. Calvert Hall pulled to 7-3 on Patrick McGregor’s drop-goal.
Set up by Kandrac’s big run, Spalding pushed its lead to 12-3 as Longfellow scored before time expired in the 35-minute first half. Gerber opened the second half with his try and kick, eight minutes in.
The Cardinals (6-4) got their first try of the match in the 13th minute from Patrick Krivosh, but Spalding answered with tries by Piccoli and Kandrac for a commanding 33-8 advantage.
The Cavaliers topped Calvert Hall, 35-17 and 33-7, during the regular season. They beat the Cardinals in last year’s final at St. Joe for their first title since 2014.
“You got to defend their kicks well. Their space placement in grade A and you cannot afford to make mistakes,” said Cardinals coach James Elliott. “We put ourselves in a hole we couldn’t get out of.”
Gerber said Spalding focused on “structure” this season. Seniors Aidan Whay, Luke Skelton, Michael Stone, Grant Warner and Liam Brennan started last year along with Gerber and senior Longfellow.
“Our players had a year or two to mature…we got 16 seniors,” said Newcomb. “We also had on the pitch tonight six first-year players either starting or finishing on a varsity team that went 10-0.”