Knoxville Rugby Football Club

Greenville edges Findlay in Dogwood Tournament

April 10, 1995

Most Valuable Player Dusty Wilson had a dream first-half for Findlay, Ohio, in the championship of the Dogwood Tournament, scoring all his team’s points for a 14-3 lead.

Mother Nature then undid all of Wilson’s strong play as Greenville, S.C., completed a wind-aided comeback, helped by its defense tossing a 40-minute shutout, for a stirring one-point win.

Wing Lynn Moore’s second try and an angled conversion by scrumhalf Butch Setzer gave the Griffins a 15-14 win at Forks of the River Park.

Greenville advanced to Sunday’s final with Group A victories over Johnson City (16-7) and Chattanooga (19-10). Chattanooga stopped Johnson City 22-12 to earn a berth in the third-place match.

Saturday matches featured 30-minute halves and round-robin play.

In Group B, Knoxville and Huntsville played a full match with the loser dropping down to Division III that fall in the Mid-South RFU schedule. The Possums got a pair of tries from 1994 Dogwood MVP Kevin Blalock to shut down Huntsville 22-0.

The Possums then dropped a one-point decision to Findlay, 23-22, before the Ohioans lost to Huntsville 31-24 with Findlay advancing to the final based on total points scored.

That’s 45 points for Findlay to 44 for Knoxville if you’re scoring at home.

Findlay had a steady cross-breeze behind it in the first half of the championship. Just five minutes in, Greenville was caught offside and Findlay outside center Dusty Wilson hit the penalty from 25-meters, 3-0.

Minutes later, Greenville dived over a ruck and Wilson drilled a 40-meter penalty to up Findlay’s lead to 6-0. Findlay was then offside on a short Greenville lineout and Setzer’s boot from about 25 meters out made it 6-3.

A long 22-meter drop-out was fielded by Findlay wing Scott Switzer and he kicked back, hustling downfield to make the tackle. Findlay won the ruck and spun the ball down the line for Wilson to drop a 20-meter goal for a 9-3 lead.

A Greenville forward scooped up a loose ball near his own 22 and tried to find touch but his kick was blown cross-field to Wilson. He broke a couple of tackles and then chipped ahead, beating Greenville’s cover to touch down.

Wilson’s conversion was off, but he had all of Findlay’s points for a 14-3 halftime scoreline.

Findlay tried to clear early in the second half, but couldn’t find touch and the Griffins pressured. Setzer chipped ahead and Moore snuck past two Findlay defenders to score, pulling Greenville to within a converted try for a win at 14-8.

The Griffins then used long kicks to return to Findlay’s half of the field. Inside center Mike Beaqoume gained possession for Greenville and was just a dozen meters from the tryline when he chipped deep into the 20-meter try zone.

Moore again beat the cover to the ball and referee Keith Burnett was right on the play to rule that downward pressure was applied and he awarded the try to pull the Griffins within a point. Setzer’s clutch conversion gave Greenville a 15-14 lead and the Dogwood championship.

Greenville                     Findlay

Madden                1        Noonan*

R. Cobb                2         Sneary**

Roberts                 3         Fennell

Bryant                    4        Roller

Speaks                  5         Vandermark

Herron                   6        R. Switzer

Kimball                  7        Durenberger

Van Eevers             8       J. Switzer

Setzer                     9       Dk. Wilson

Gerisol                   10      Rodgers

Moore                     11      S. Switzer

Beaqoume              12       Swisher

Carlyle                    13      Du. Wilson

Lemmons                14       Darliat***

M.Cobb                    15      Wagner

Ref: Keith Burnett, C-3, Mid-South

*replaced by Machuka

**replaced by K. Switzer

***replaced by Hernandez

Third Place

Knoxville toppled Chattanooga 20-12 for third place while Johnson City beat Huntsville in the consolation final.

All-Tournament Team and MVPs

The following players were selected for the Dogwood All-Tournament Team. Dusty Wilson was chosen as Most Valuable Back while Rich Cobb was the Most Valuable Forward. They received plaques from Matt Godek.

1 Charles Madden Greenville

2 Rich Cobb Greenville

3 Tyler Huskey Knoxville

4 Jamie Roller   Findlay

5 Jeff Bryant Findlay

6 Jeff Hall Chattanooga

7 Sheldon Brennan Greenville

8 Billy Eberle Chattanooga

9 Mike Curtis Huntsville

10 Marty Bradley Knoxville

11Lynn Moore Greenville

12 Don Clardy Knoxville

13 Dusty Wilson Findlay

14 Troy Flanagan Chattanooga

15 Tom Wilson Knoxville

Women’s Division

The University of Tennessee won all three of its round-robin games with #8 Jennifer Duke chosen as MVP.

Knoxville also said good-bye to its coach, John Holliday, who would return home to Australia in July. As a schoolboy, he won the Australian equivilant to the Heisman Trophy and helped our club tremendously.