St. Ignatius Wildcats Fight Hard but Fall to Pendleton in Varsity Rugby Clash

The St. Ignatius Wildcats varsity rugby team faced off against the Pendleton Rugby Club in a non-conference game on March 9. The game took place in Fortess Obetz amidst cold, gray, and windy conditions. Despite the adversity brought on by the weather, both teams displayed tenacity on the field. At the halftime mark, the Wildcats trailed with a score of 8-5, with Joe Deinhart providing the only try for St. Ignatius. Nevertheless, the Wildcats battled to get closer and did get a second try, this time from Tommy Kilbane. Charlie Sizemore earned recognition for his game at hooker, playing hard and not backing down all afternoon. St. Ignatius spent most of minutes 15 to 35 in scoring position against Pendleton. But they weren't able to execute their maul to drive over the line, and made some mistakes that prevented a key score. Finally, Pendleton forced a turnover and broke out of their half. That killed any chance for St. Ignatius to gain the lead in the first half. In the second half, with the score 13-10 for Penldeton, an interception and try put the game out of reach. "We had a lot of miscommunication and dropped passes," said flanker Pat Cooney. "We just need to play a more physically dominant game." At the final whistle, the Wildcats came up short with a score of 20-10 in favor of Pendleton.