What a season!! It seems so long ago that I was in a bar at Rehobeth with Sally, Kenny, Jon Hix, New Wave, Vinny and Tiny looking forward to the following morning’s matches at the Atlantic Cup. It was a little warmer back then, that’s for sure. That Tournament really set the tone for the Fall. Tory was in Colorado with Breckenridge, little did we know that in 2 months, Eughan, Alex and Darren from Breckenridge would be helping Frederick top our division. Ironically, Brandywine beat Frederick in the semi-finals on Sunday, but the try by Kenny in injury time from a tap penalty on our own 5 yard line to get on the board said something about the spirit inside the squad this season. As we went into the Matrix season, we were fit but not quite focused. An important win in Lancaster followed by a hatrick on the road for Jason in our win over Wilmington were good but not convincing. Then it came, the loss at Doylestown. What a pain - literally for Eughan and Jason. But the squad didn’t falter. Alex and Darren arrived and we stepped up a little to beat Severn. Then came the homestand. Eughan and Jason returned, Mike Thompson and Chris Sipe were playing great rugby and we had Lance. The rugby developed each week. Practices were a little on the lively/painful side as players tried to win selection. But the end result is that FRFC is back to #1. It has taken 3 years to get back here. Thanks must go to all the playing Club members and their families. To the non-playing members particularly Big Stu and Pat. Finally, we must acknowledge the role that Coach Redmond has played in FRFC’s return to glory. I hope that John is enjoying the ride as much as I am!!

As we prepare for the Championship run in the Spring of 1998, we need to address some Club business. We need to elect a President, V.President and Treasurer. As important, are our votes for MVP and other player awards - please take a little time to think, write down your choices and give them to Tory at the meeting. Bring your check books or $15 to get your Banquet tickets (I would strongly suggest mailing me the checks before this meeting). If there are issues that you would like to raise to any of the Club Officers - this is a good time to do it. Also - remember - we are MARFU North Div II Champions, take a moment to enjoy it and drink a beer with your Club mates.

The first match in our four game homestand produced the goods, a win against Second City Troop. We knew what to expect - a small pack but speed at the corners, courtesy of their Backs who performed very well throughout the summer Sevens season. In the pack, our front row of Tory, Tool and Daz (English

Darren’s other name), were monstrous - winning 4 scrums against the head is pretty unusual. In the lineouts, Second City went to the short variety early, but Pete dominated in offense and Jeff did well defensively. In the backrow, ‘Alex of Breckenridge’ got his first start, played great, with Larry and Eughan splitting halves at the other flank. In the backline at center, Lance ‘Bill’ French was constantly on the offensive, pressuring all day. One of the stand out features of this match was the forward’s ball retention and recycling. Time and time again we reached 3 or 4 phases. The Cable 10 camera work was really outstanding. The only aspect of the match that under-achieved was our inability to get the ball out enough times to the threatening back 3 of Chris Sipe, Mike Thompson and Tobin. Frederick completely dominated, both position and time of possession, scoring after 7 mins with a series of rucks leading to a try by Mike (converted by Kenny). At the half the score was still 7:0. We just failed to get the ball wide quickly. In the second half, we slipped

into a period of silly penalties that gave Second City more possession, but they were unable to convert any pressure into points. At last a stolen lineout led to Eughan charging up field. The ruck was set and the ball passed out to Lance - try scored! With 7 minutes to go, Eughan stole the ball from Second City in the tackle to set up Eric attacking the short right side. He pop-kicked, recovered and fed Kenny for the try in the corner. Kenny converted, 19:0. The Troop continued to attack and scored a consolation try. MOTM nominees were, Lance, Mike and Ed. Lance easily won the drink-off, with the cup going to Mike. In the ‘B’-match FRFC won 17:10.

The Club’s Banquet will be held at the Red Horse Inn on Rt-40 in Frederick (same place as last year). Start at 7:00pm and run till late. The food is really good, Prime Rib or Chicken plus veg, desert etc. Free Beer, with a cash bar. We will have Speakers and DJ. Tory will present the Fall ‘97 Player Awards. This is a great time, please make it. As the Club has done such a great job at fundraising this year through Pete and Jason’s Pig Roast, the Summer Party at Ed’s and Pat O’Connell’s land clearing project, the Banquet will be subsidized. Just $15 per ticket!! (now this really is a good deal). I have 100 tickets, first come first serve. This is open to Club members, friends and family. Get either cash or a check made out to FRFC to:-

Please note that this is a rough draft. Just wanted to get you important dates early so you can schedule rugby into the New Year. As the schedule is confirmed this table will be updated.

Now this was a great match to play in. The Hiburnians were, according to scouting, big in the pack, solid at the inside and weak at the wings. As such our pack was not expected to dominate quite as much as against Second City - and it was imperative that we corrected our pattern of play to get the ball out to our strength, the outside backs. Our pack was unchanged from last week, Eughan playing the full match on the flank. The backs were shuffled slightly to compensate for Kenny’s absence. JT came to FH, Lance ‘English’ French moved to Inside Center and Rusty slotted in to the Outside Center position. We started off strong. A take from a lineout, followed by solid mauling sprung Eughan for a try. Five minutes later a similar controlled drive down the other side of the pitch led to Jeff Lutton touching down (Jeff needed all 6’6’’ plus

his 4’ arms to reach the line!!). 10:0 after 10 minutes - not bad. Hiburnians started to get back in the game. Some solid phases of rucking by the visitors led to off-side penalties against Frederick. Hibernians kicked 2 penalties to close to 10:6 before Chris Sipe slotted one due to Hibernians collapsing the Frederick maul. At the half, Frederick led 13:6. As the second half began, Hibernians made their move. We were pinned down in our corner for a good twenty minutes. The Hibo’s winning lineouts, taking the ball one or two phases, losing it to Frederick, who kicked out of bounds for the cycle to repeat. Penalty kicks were exchanged 16:9. With 20 minutes remaining, a good attacking move by Sipe and French, just put forward led to a 5m scrum in front of the Hibo’s posts. The ball came out awkwardly, Alex pressured the SH and Eric scored the try. Converted by Sipe, 23:9. The floodgates now opened. A lineout on the 22 of the Hibernians led to some short side punching, then out to the backs, Fullback in and Tobin touched down between the posts. Converted by Sipe, 30:9. A few minutes later, countering, Tobin brought the ball upfield with Mike the recipient of a pass for the try. Once more Sipe slotted the kick 37:9. With one minute remaining, the restart failed to travel 10m, Frederick scrum on the 50m. Viking was called, this sent Chris away with Alex in support to run in for the try. Final score 42:9. After securing a second win by a dominant Frederick ‘B’-side (34:0) which featured the dynamic pairing of winger Al Goetz and hooker John "Flash" Web in the open field, the return of Jason, Tiny, Seth and Jon Hixon and tries by Vinny Baker, Web, Alex (again), Jason (showing off with 2), Tobin with a try and Walt with two conversions, it was down to Olde Towne. Darren, Jeff and Web went up for Man of the Match honors, Darren drank far too slowly for an Englishman, and Web collected the cup. Deanna found a friend in a bottle of Tequila, and promptly became everybody else’s best friend. The site of Walt hoisting Deanna over his shoulder to go home was one that will remain for a while!!

It’s that time again, when you get to vote for your picks of the players who impacted the Frederick season this Fall. The categories are the same as last year, please take the time to put some names to paper. Bring this along to the Meeting on Thurs. December 4th at Olde Towne.

Frederick 19, Second City 5

Lancaster 40, Wilmington 0

Severn River 34, Blackthorn 32

Second City 31, Lancaster 15

Frederick 42, Hibernians 9

Brandywine 37, Wilmington 0

Severn River 37, Doylestown 22

Hibernians 13, Brandywine 8

Second City 36, Blackthorn 17

Doylestown 33, Wilmington 7

Lancaster 57, Severn River 12

Lancaster 20, Brandywine 12

Frederick 57, Blackthorn 3

Second City 15, Doylestown 7

Wilmington 24, Hibernians 22

Frederick 31, Brandywine 12

Hibernians 30, Blackthorn 14

Lancaster 15, Doylestown 5

Severn River 26 , Wilmington 17,

Don Brigg’s Mount St Mary’s squad, who finished a respectable 3 and 3 in Matrix play, fought hard to qualify in the PRU Collegiate Play-offs. The Mount started off in dominating style, whipping George Washington 30:0. This was followed by an 8:5 win over AU. The soaked Mount then got to play a well rested Frostburg side and lost 59:6. The Frostburg FH clinically picking holes in the Mount defense. Don referred to this loss as the best win of the tournament for the Mount, as the squad did not roll over and went on to avenge a divisional loss to Navy, by beating them 17:5. (If you have ever had the privilege of being coached by Don, this theme of biggest wins after a loss is a recurring thing, I think my ‘biggest win’ situation was that loss to Severn River in the ‘Match of the week’ on our way to FL) In the other bracket, Mike Stull’s Salisbury squad breezed over Navy 19:8 and Frostburg 30:0. The Mount travel to Villa Nova, Saturday 8th November.

The squad has been improving over the last two weeks, and on a day of driving rain, the Frederick Backs and Forwards put on a great display of 15 man rugby. 3 minutes into the match, the first scrum was a take against the head for Frederick, setting up a 50 yard rucking drive. This set the pace immediately for the Forwards. 5 minutes later, another take against the head led to an 8-man shove and an easy push over try. Kenny was solid in the conversion category 6/9 on the day. Unfortunately Lance took a hard hit to the ribs and had to leave the field, replaced manfully by JT. Just a few minutes later Captain Tory (for Rick Simms’ benefit!!) also had to leave with an ankle injury, replaced by Chris White. Moments later a slashing run by Jason, supported by the Backrow, set up Eric for a try in the corner. 12:0 FRFC. After a 15 minute period of pressure by Blackthorn, a loose ball by a ruck, and an alert Jason, led to a Deon Sanders imitation as Delauder ran 80m down the sideline for a beautiful score. Kenny converted 19:0 FRFC. Approaching the half, Frederick pressure at a lineout 5m out led to a maul set up by Eric, and the Pack pushed over for another easy try and conversion. 26:0 at the half. Kevin Fraser had replaced Rick Simms as referee early in the match. Obviously Rick was upset. At the half he hurled a water jug at Kevin’s face, breaking Kevin’s nose and leaving a cut under his eye requiring 4 stitches. I think we all learned not to take Rick "Killer" Simms lightly!! (HA! HA!) Kevin being a Springbok weight lifter just continued on with the match. "Big and Beefy" Darren Clarke, bust out his britches so borrowed a pair of shorts from "Even Bigger and Beefier Seth ‘Big Country’ Townsley". The second half saw more of the same. A well executed ‘Exiles’ short lineout led to the Backrow penetrating the Blackthorn Backline, springing Eric for the try. 33:0. The next try came from a beautiful counter initiated by Tobin, involving the Backrow and Eric to release Sipe for the score. 38:0. Tom Angel came on to replace Pete, Rabbi on for Eughan and Web replaced Chris White. Jason quickly notched up tries #2 and #3. The first following a multiphase attack, the second directly from a well executed ‘Slash’ play. 52:0 FRFC. Blackthorn kicked a consolation penalty 52:3, then Frederick went back on the offensive. A stolen lineout on the Blackthorn 22m led to a Back run by Rusty, supported by JT. The Forwards came in to set the ruck and an alert ‘Daz’ dived at least 2 feet to cross the line. 57:3. Still attacking, a well executed ‘Maryland’ Backrow move set by Rabbi, led to the ball passing through 11 pairs of hands before being lost forward on the 2m line, so close. A couple of entertaining quotes were overheard "This is turning into a Turkey shoot", was Tommy Grunwell’s analysis as we approached the 60th minute. Sally’s comment, "This match actually looked like the Rugby on TV", was also encouraging. MOTM was Kenny.

Dan Makosy and one of the Aerobics Instructors at Gold’s have designed an aerobic exercise plan for FRFC. This will be a combination of Step aerobics, Kick-boxing and Plyometrics. If you look back to this season, our fitness was better than every other team in the league and our injury rate was very low. A lot of this can be attributed to players getting involved in the Aerobics last season and joining up at Gold’s to do weight training. The Aerobics sessions will last 1 hour each Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30pm to 8:30pm starting Tuesday Jan 6th. If you are not yet a member of Gold’s please talk to Jeff Lutton (301) 271-6916.

The PRU All-star squad handled Brothers RFC, a touring Australian side at Gravelly Point last Sunday. At the half just a conversion kick separated the teams, the PRU led 10:8. In the second half Martin (Exiles), Josh Stallings (PAC) and New Wave (FRFC Exiles) scored tries to finish things off 25 to 13. There was good FRFC representation, with Daz and Pete playing and Kevin Eagar Reffing.

Frederick went into this match ranked #1, Brandywine #3. The winner would be outright #1. Nobody needed motivation, this was the season. Coach Redmond’s call to, "Immerse yourself in the emotion of the match" was heeded and the team played some of it’s toughest rugby all season. The first half was tense. Big hits by Larry and Tiny set the stage for some intense rugby. Even though we had the wind to our backs, we were often pinned in our own 22m, but held the line with strong tackling. Brandywine were aggressive, but gave up penalties that were in range for FH Kenny Orndoff. At the 38th minute Frederick led by the score of 9:0. A clearing kick by Rusty was adjudged to be in front of the 22m (with the benefit of video replay Rusty was clearly behind the line) led to a Brandywine lineout on the 22m. The Frederick defense so solid to this point relaxed, the outside center was double teamed and a nice cut back, Full Back in, by Brandywine resulted in a converted try. 9:7 at the half. As has been the story all season, Frederick maintained their composure and came back very hard. Brandywine were tough but one dimensional. Plan ‘A’ was to run punch rucks, never spinning the ball wide. We adjusted, committed fewer men to the ruck and started stealing possession. Brandywine had no plan ‘B’ and early in the second half a Frederick ruck on the left led to clean ball being spun wide for Jason to round the corner for a score. Jason ran it back behind the goal posts for Kenny, FRFC led 16:7. Eughan, one of our key players this season, was badly hurt and had to leave the field. Rabbi came on, was penalized immediately for hands in at the ruck, but then settled down to one of the best games I’ve seen him play. About this time Kenny and Eric realized that the opposition left wing was always up so kept kicking over his head and pinned the Brandywine team in their own 22m. A series of rucks, developed from a scrum take against the head led to Tory forcing his way over the line for the score, 21:7. Not long after, a well executed Viking sprung Chris Sipe for a great (one handed) score, 26:7. Brandywine tried to recover and managed to finish off a drive with their flanker scoring 26:12, but FRFC would not let up. Another series of rucks led to Chris’s second try, a ball popped up to him in mid-stride was taken 80m for a great score. Final score 31:12 to Frederick. In the ‘B’ match, Frederick completed their unbeaten season 6:0 with a handy win 20:5. Seth "Big Country" Townsley got the first try powering over in the pile. Vince Baker showed a little more finesse with his solo effort, hacking the ball past the Brandywine defense and recovering for a try. Guest player "Wheels" got his just desserts with a try and Walt with a penalty and English John with a conversion rounded out the scoring. In an ironic twist, due to the loss, Brandywine had an identical record with 4 other teams. Following the tie-breakers, Brandywine were left as #5, eliminating themselves from the Spring ‘98 play-offs.

#6 Baltimore 1:5 -136

#7 S.Jersey 0:6 -204

#5 Brandywine 5:3 +65

#6 Doylestown 4:4 +11

#7 Severn River 3:5 -104

#8 Blackthorn 1:7 -130

#9 Wilmington 1:7 -182

#5 James River 3:4 -72

#6 W.Suburbs 2:5 -116

#7 Rocky Gorge 1:6 -138

#8 United 0:7 -205