The Ags traveled to Irving, Texas this weekend for the final leg of the ARC 7s Series. The Grand Final was the last event in a three-leg competition that also had tournaments in Norman, Ok. and Austin, Tx. Texas A&M came into the Grand Final leading in total series points with 82, but University of Oklahoma trailed by only 13 points going into the last weekend. In order to ensure the importance of the Grand Final, the point totals were doubled, making it extremely important for the Aggies to play well. The Aggies were also looking for a historic fourth straight tournament win, so Saturday appeared to be a high-stakes affair.
The Aggies were grouped in Pool A along with University of Texas and Texas Tech. According to the Longhorn coaching staff, UT rested its starters the previous weekend in order to be ready for the finals, posing a big threat to the Aggies. Texas Tech is one of the more athletic teams in the competition and produced some big wins so far this year, making the pool the strongest in the competition.
The Aggies started strong against Texas Tech with Matt Theodore and Lukas Jacobson scoring tries. However, the Red Raiders scored right before the half after a defensive lapse by the Aggies making the score 14-7. After making adjustments at halftime, A&M came out strong with Conor Mills and J.D. Smiley finishing off the scoring and giving the Aggies a 26-7 win.
The second match against UT was a hard-fought affair with early scoring going back and forth. The Longhorns scored first to take a quick 5-0 lead, but the Aggies answered with a Jacobson try a short time later, tying the game at five a-piece. UT scored again right before the half giving them a 12-5 lead. The Aggies continued to struggle until Mills made a break, cutting up the Longhorn defense before off-loading to Danny Amsler who cruised in for the score in the corner. Mills made a monster conversion from the sideline for a 14-12 lead. Theodore put the icing on the cake with a try at thirteen minutes, however, the Aggies had to scramble after the restart because Andres Diaz was yellow-carded with a minute remaining. The Aggies played ferocious defense, keeping Texas out of the in-goal and came away with a 19-12 victory and first place in Pool A.
In the semi-final match-up TAMU faced Sam Houston State. Sam Houston has improved a great deal throughout the season and it was exciting to see them advance to the knock-out rounds. Unfortunately for the Bearkats, the faced a hungry Aggie squad. Texas A&M crushed Sam 50-0 with Chris Frazier scoring three tries and Jacobson, Smiley, Durke, Mills, and McMath all adding scores. Oklahoma played Tech in the other final and were shocked by an offensive onslaught by the Red Raiders who came away with a huge upset victory.
The final was a rematch of the first game of the day and the Aggies wasted no time in asserting their dominance with a Frazier try 45 seconds into the match. Theodore and Jacobson added tries and it looked like the Aggies were going to blow out Tech, however, they came back with two quick tries of their own narrowing the gap to 21-12 at halftime. Adjustments were once again made and the Aggies stormed through the second half with Smiley, Mills, and Theodore scoring tries. Mills was a perfect 6 for 6 on conversions and A&M cruised to a 42-12 victory. The victory clinched the ARC 7s Series Championship and secured tournament victory number four. It was an incredible weekend for the Aggies, who also won the JV championship (more on this in different post). The Aggies are now 17-1 this season and excited about the national championships.
Conor Mills had another spectacular weekend, leading the Aggies with 45 points. Chris Frazier continues to thrill fans with long runs that produced four tries on the day. Freshman sensation Matt Theodore had a four try performance and was fantastic on defense all day. Lukas Jacobson added another four tries with some key runs during the tournament and Andres Diaz had a dominating defensive performance. As has become the custom, another brilliant team effort to win the championship!
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| 2012 Allied Rugby Conference 7s Champions |
