Aggies Crunch Bears

The Aggies travelled to Waco for an ARC matchup against the Baylor Bears on Saturday (03-02-13).  The Aggies were coming off a big 105-7 victory over Sam Houston State and wanted to continue building momentum heading into the UT matchup.  Baylor has made some amazing strides this season and continue to impress the competition with their toughness and desire.  The Aggies expected a hard match in Waco and had a good week in preparation.  The weather was cool and extremely windy in central Texas and many Aggies were beginning to wonder if they were ever going to play a match without wind.

The first eleven minutes of the match were exactly what the Aggies expected, with Baylor playing tough defense - denying A&M scoring opportunities repeatedly.  The Aggies continued to attack and their efforts paid off when lock John Deao managed to punch a short try over (11:20).  Flyhalf Conor Mills added a long penalty kick a short time later (13:30) which signaled the start of an offensive deluge for the Aggies.  Mills scored the first of his three tries on the day (18:40) off a long run, followed by the first of lock Phil Hanson's two tries (20:56).  Hanson had a breakout day, punishing the Bears with numerous runs through the heart of their defense.

Fullback Lukas Jacobson scored a nifty try, running through multiple defenders for a score (23:47) to keep the A&M offensive machine running smoothly.  Hooker Andres Diaz, who has been on a try scoring spree of late, scored the first of his two tries (27:12), giving the Aggies a 32-0 lead with time left in the half.  Baylor was still attempting to defend valiantly, but were quickly being worn down.  Grayson Dowlearn, making his first start for the Aggies at flanker, added to their fatigue when he intercepted a pass and ran it in from 45 meters out (33:05)  Mills finished the scoring for the half with a 50 meter try, smashing through the defense before out-sprinting the umbrella defense (41:16).  This gave Texas A&M a commanding 46-0 halftime lead.

The second half was more of the same with Mills opening the scoring with his third try off another lengthy run (46:13).  Matt Theodore (46:42) and Francisco Brito (51:58) added their own scores in quick succession.  Theodore's was especially exciting as he had been forced to sit out the first two months of the season due to a torn labrum.  Baylor finally got on the board with a penalty kick (60:00), making the score 65-3.  Unfortunately for the Bears, this motivated the Aggies to score some more.  Diaz (65:13) and Hanson (70:46) dotted down their second tries, both a result of good lines and support play.  Matt Krath finished the scoring for the Aggies after an assist by Hanson making the final score 82-3.

Senior Lukas Jacobson over for a try against the Bears

This was another fantastic team effort by the Aggies and demonstrated the offensive firepower they are capable of.  The win takes them to 2-0 in conference play heading into a critical match in Austin against UT.  Phil Hanson (forwards) and Conor Mills (backs) were named Men of the Match.  Hanson continues to impress and had a dominating game.  Mills ended the match with 32 points, a huge offensive effort and once again did an impressive job of marshalling his players.