The club Rugby team poses with Dr. Arnn after their win: Courtesy | Charlie Hickey

The Hillsdale club rugby team beat John Carroll University 38-14 in the first round of the Allegheny Rugby Union Playoffs, with College President Larry Arnn making a guest appearance at the team’s last home game Oct. 25.

“When we wrapped up the game, we went over to the fence on the side of the field and, of course, Dr. Arnn was there,” sophomore Peter Kaiser said. “So we all went up to shake his hand and take a picture with him, and after a brief moment when I could kind of get him aside, I said, ‘Well, Dr. Arnn, I might not know much about the good, but I do think that rugby may have something to do with it.’” 

Then, Kaiser said, Arnn looked at him and smirked.

“Well, I think rugby is the good,” Arnn told him.

Sophomore Ike Lindley opened the scoring with a try in the left corner of John Carroll’s in-goal area, setting the score at 5-0. Senior and head coach Judah Newsom missed the difficult conversion kick that followed, causing Hillsdale to miss out on two extra points.

Newsom didn’t allow the missed kick to affect his performance, scoring the second try of the game and a conversion kick to earn Hillsdale seven points and a 12-point lead over John Carroll.

Senior Andrew Agbay scored the third try for Hillsdale, coupled with a conversion kick by Newsom to bring the game to 19-0.

John Carroll managed to score a try and a conversion kick in the last few minutes of the first half, setting the game at 19-7 going into the break.

The Chargers’ quickly gained momentum in the second half of the game, with Agbay and junior Angel Jimenez both scoring tries and Newsom making both conversion kicks. The plays gave Hillsdale a 33-7 lead.

Senior and backs coach Luca Vitale said he admired how the players stayed focused in the game despite their large lead.

“What really stood out to me and made me proud was our guys played with 100% concentration till the end of the game, even when we were up,” Vitale said. “And they let us continue to run the score up.”

With around 15 minutes left in the game, John Carroll scored its second and last try and conversion kick, making the score 33-14.

Jimenez scored the last try of the game, adding another five points on the board for Hillsdale. Senior Tommy Smith missed the conversion kick, leaving the Chargers with 38 points.

Senior Joseph Johnson said a highlight of the game was the players’ ability to work well as a team.

“It was mostly teamwork,” Johnson said. “We saw our guys run for like 50 yards, then get pummeled, but then one guy would just pick the ball up and keep on going. It was no selfish ball, we just kept on fighting and it was amazing.”

After the end of the game, Arnn stayed back to talk to the players and take a picture. Vitale said the team knew Arnn was coming, and it meant a lot to them.

“We’re a club team, so we don’t get a ton of institutional support,” Vitale said. “So to get symbolic support from the head of the college gives us a lot of hope that rugby will continue at Hillsdale and continue to become more established and recognized.”

The Chargers will travel to Steubenville, Ohio, to play Franciscan University in the ARU Playoffs Semifinal Nov. 1. Franciscan is the No. 3 ranked team in the nation for Division III rugby, but the Chargers believe they have a good shot at taking them down. 

“They are good, they are skilled, no one is questioning that,” sophomore and forwards coach Charles Hickey said. “But they are smaller than us, we have a crack forwards pack, and we are going to physically overpower them.”