Stampede Trample Mad River, Take Season Opener 47-3.

On Saturday, September 13th, Saratoga began its bid for a New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) Championship, following up a successful 2007 season and a berth in playoffs last fall. The Stampede's season kicked off with a match against Mad River, who played in the Division Finals in 2007. Mad River has long had a reputation for being a bruising team that uses it's large pack to bully its way down the field and set up scores by quick and lighter weight backs. While outscoring Saratoga 24-5 last fall, a newly look Saratoga offense, orchestrated by new coach Brian "Sharkie" White, distributed the ball all over the pitch, resulting in a lopsided victory by the Stampede over Mad River, 47-3.

The game started off with Saratoga receiving the kickoff deep within its own end. An early knock forward followed by a penalty set up Mad River in excellent field position and they elected to go for a field goal. On the ensuing kick, the ball sailed through the uprights for three points. It would be the last three Mad River managed on the day, which was hot and extremely humid, forcing the bigger players from both teams to really push themselves to make it to rucks and mauls in order to maintain possession.

In an effort to gain field position, the game quickly turned to the feet of the backs, who often exchanged a volley of kicks, hoping to catch the opposition off guard and regain possession through quick pursuit. Saratoga, though often overpowered in the scrum, was able to dominate lineouts and rucks, using their combination of speed and size to take advantage of favorable match ups with Mad River. Saratoga's backs proved too fast and too big for Mad River, especially Ballston Spa grad and inside center Jamie Meritt, whose slashing and cut back runs repeatedly frustrated opposing players. Meritt notched himself a try and Man of the Match honors for the first week. It is a designation Saratoga expects Merrit to continue to battle for on a weekly basis as he continues to gain a better grip on Saratoga's team centered offense.

Beyond Merrit, Coach White's offense, run by scrum-half Nick DeFilippo and fly-half Captain Doug McCluskey, had Saratoga showcase as even attack as they ever have had. Saratoga scored seven tries by seven different players on the day, and converted six of seven point after kicks. They featured slashing runs by the backs and smashmouth drives by the forwards in a scheme that emphasizes positional awareness and control. Without the extra running involved in a strictly "Pod Styled" offense, the forwards stayed fresher and were to be found all over the field, often stretching out Mad River's defense and forcing their larger pack to play a lot of chase on a hot day. This strategy seemed to wear down Mad River and allow Saratoga to really pour on the tries.

Those scoring tries on the day included Meritt and Kevin Dooling, who had a bursting run through the middle of Mad River's line, as well as mad dashes by McClusky and center Jared Rubin, who also chipped in three conversion kicks to lead all scorers with 11 points. The pack took a more simple approach, smashing off of rucks deep in Mad River's red zone, resulting in tries by prop Joe Barth and flanker Pete Mody. Eightman Steve "Aussie" Ristau mixed it up, however, by taking a dump pass from Meritt and crashing in for a try of his own. After a knee injury to Rubin, fullback Vern Peek converted 2 of 3 point after kicks, bringing the total of players contributing to points during the game to eight. Saratoga had scored 47 unanswered points en route to winning their season opener.

(Photo Courtesy of Katie Hunter).