Club men's rugby beats Ferris State for Golden Keg
Amidst the crowd, lights and bagpipes, the strength of the Central Michigan Exiles men’s rugby team was on display Friday.
In its first home game of the season, CMU beat Ferris State 37-7 to win the Golden Keg, a trophy both schools have played for since 1995.
“For a lot of guys, it’s because the two schools are so close,” said team captain Patrick Keady, who finished with one try in the game. “They have played against the guys from Ferris State or with them in high school.”
Keady, who describes the game of rugby as “controlled chaos, football without paids, substitutions like soccer and rough like hockey,” said the team was excited to get back on the field.
Ferris State struck first, taking an early 7-5 lead, and maintained a close lead heading into halftime.
“We (were) confident, excited and enthusiastic,” Keady said, “ and I was happy to see us come out from the half kicking off and then gaining control of the ball. It’s exactly what I wanted to see us do.”
CMU (2-1) quickly turned it around, however, and scored 32 unanswered points. In addition to Keady, Matthew Martin scored two tries while Bryan Kimbrell, Eric Jacovetti and Kyle Cablentz each added a try, putting an exclamation on the game.
“Having a lot of young guys playing cohesive with one another, it really helped us bounce back after a loss last week,” Jacovetti said. “It’s really going to help put some more Ws on the board.”
Jacovetti and Cablentz were named Co-Men of the Math.
“It was awesome,” Cablentz said. “We played well and a lot of that has to do with our captains. We have a lot of young guys who are playing really well and the captains are a big part of that success.”
The Exiles play their next game at 1 p.m. Saturday against Davenport University.
