The Golden Santa will once again be up for grabs at the 17th annual Santa Claus 7’s tourney. Last year saw Knoxville dethrone UT for the championship. Same rule as last year: 1400 lbs minimum. No one under 200lbs may score.

Entry Fee: $100. Weigh-In’s begin promptly at 9:15am.  Capt’s meeting 9:30am.  First Match Kick-off 10:00am. Teams Scheduled to appear: Washington, Nashville, Johnson City, Univ of TN, KnoxvilleContact Info: Jay McNabb, jymcnabb@gmail.com, 865-740-9495

Driving directions to Possum Park listed under ‘Directions’ above.

2009 Possum

Spring schedule

Feb 7 Knoxville @ Huntsville

Feb 14 Chattanooga @ Knoxville

Feb 21 Montgomery @ Knoxville

Feb 28 Knoxville @ Chattanooga

March 7 Huntsville @ Knoxville

March 14 Off

March 21 Knoxville @ Old White

March 28 Knoxville @ Renegades

April 18 Off

April 25 USARS Finals

May 16 USAR ROUND OF 16 AND 8

May 30 USAR Finals

It was decided by the members in attendance last night that this year’s Christmas Party will be held Friday December 12 at the McNabb compound. Keep the date open. More to come…

2009 Officers

President- Adam Ingle

Vice-President- Ryan Miller

Treasurer- Jay McNabb

Secretary- Brad Lokitz

Match Secretary- Heath Hildreth

Social Chairman- Steve Spinosa

Captain- Tony Baker

Co Captain- Shane Randolph

Executive Committee Officers- Bob Hampstead, James Ellis, (Matt Noss, Scott Adcox: elected in 2007)

By-Law Changes: All players under 23 will pay 1/2 of full dues (changed from 2/3 of full dues).

Other voted changes: Dues will increase from $75 to $80. Awards banquet will move from end-of-fall-season to end-of-spring-season.

The Possums came out on top of the Flying Pigs of Dayton Rugby with a hard fought victory 17-12.  It was a sloppy match with neither side finding much continuity.

noss in stride

Sorry to say that those were the only points scored by the men in grey….Charleston on the other hand found their rythym seconds after the next kick off and put in a few 10 or so try’s over the remaining 65 minutes.  Considering that we wouldn’t have even been able to play with the 6 Possums that made the trip if the Outlaws weren’t kind enough to loan us 9 players to fill out the side, it was a nice day for rugby.

Challenged by low numbers due to injuries, a wedding, and a few no-shows, Knoxville traveled with (7) players to Memphis on Sat to face the Blues. The trip was almost canceled in Cookeville due to an overheated van but a call to the local car rental company saved the day. The weather was nice and the game started off well as Felleciano made a quick burst through the Memphis line before being tackled on the one meter line.That’s when the realization of having 8 new players set in. We somehow lost possession and Memphis went on to score (3) tries in the first half. Our back-line held their own but we could not secure ball during set pieces and our backs had little ball to use.

The second half witnessed a bit better defensive stand, but set pieces were lost and Memphis made 3 more tries. The back-line managed to penetrate inside the 10 meter line several times but our forward pack was not strong enough to finish. All in all, we played well with what we had to work with. Memphis had some nice ball handling and took most of our set pieces leaving our backs to make some key defensive stops. They kept us on the defensive most of the match.

Thanks to the Univ of Memphis boys for helping us out on numbers especially the back 3. The social was held at Keltic Crossing Irish Pub and Memphis treated us well throughout the night. Cheers to the Possums who made the trip.

Line-up:

1 Univ of Memphis

2 UM

3 UM, Greg White

4 UM

5 UM

6 Heath

7 Stephen

8 McNabb

9 Adam

10 Rafael

11 UM

12 Felliciano

13 Garrett

14 UM

15 UM

Knoxville played Nashville on Sat 10/04, losing 25-26. The day was rather warm with Nashville

playing 1st against UT (33-32 win), resting during a Knoxville B/UT B match-up, and then a match against Knoxville. Play started fortunate for the Possums as the Knoxville backs scored a try within the first few minutes. Nashville kept pace though, taking advantage of penalty plays by converting numerous kicks.

Knoxville scored the last try with 2 minutes remaining. Solid defensive pressure by Nashville and lackluster possession by Knoxville resulted in yet another penalty kick with no time left on the clock. Nashville’s kicker (who had performed accurately all day) happened to miss this one and it seemd Knoxville would win. However, a Knoxville mistake allowed Nashville a re-kick which was made and the game ended with Nashville victorious.

Knoxville would like to thank Nashville and UT for the good day of rugby.

Line-up

1: James Ellis
2: Tom Jallo
3: Shane Randolph
4: Jay McNabb
5: Andy Chimenti
6: Wayne Chermely (Captain)
7: Heath Hildreth
8: Matt Noss
9: Adam Scott
10: Tony Baker
11: Chris Manning
12: Pierre Steenekamp
13: Matt Abernathy
14: Mike Felliciano
15: Adam Ingle
16: Ryan Miller
17: Reggie Mullins

Play Caller: Mike Weldon

Knoxville played Greenville Griffins on Sat 9/27, winning 43-19. The day was

slightly overcast and for the first time in many years, there was actually a lot of grass on the pitch. The match started with Greenville receiving the kick-off. In the first ruck, Knoxville poached ball and moments later scored a try with inside running by the backs. With good rucking and set pieces, Knoxville’s backs continued strong play scoring several times in the first half. Knoxville held scrum stealing one ball during the day. Greenville took advantage of an over aggressive play by the Possum forwards late in the first half with a good run by their scrum half just off the side of the ruck. Halftime score was 43-7.

The second half was a bit wet due to the slight rain causing more unforced errors on both sides. Some youthful Possum substitutions and a stubborn Greenville defense held the Possums to zero points in the second half. Greenville put on two tries and the game ended 43-19.

With this win, Knoxville ended the long streak of Greenville wins in the series, setting a good tone with quick ball, strong possession and tight passing. The spectators (at least the Possum ones) saw a great game. Both teams enjoyed a lively social set-up by Bob Hampstead.

Line-up

1 James Ellis (Rise-Up)

2 Ryan Miller (Rooster)

3 Shane Randolph [Captain]

4 Jay McNabb

5 Andy Chimenti

6 Chris Knutsen (KA)

7 Wayne Chermely

8 Matt Noss

9 Adam Scott

10 Tony Baker

11 Brad Lokitz

12 Adam Ingle

13 Matt Abernathy

14 Chris Manning

15 Rob Wallace

16 Thomas

17 Pierre

18 Tanner

19 Steve

20 Garret

21 Spinosa

22 Matt Lucas

23 Sallas

24 Christian

25 Javi

26 Tanner Cardwell

Play Caller: Mike Weldon