Moraga, Calif.- BYU edged St. Mary’s 30-29 in a weird game Saturday in Moraga.

The Cougars looked much the stronger side in the first 65-70 minutes, but a late surge by the Gaels put the result in doubt.

St. Mary’s got on the board first with a penalty from Dylan Audsley. But after that BYU pinned St. Mary’s in the Gaels’ 22. The hits were hard and uncompromising and the physical nature of the game led to some penalties and little mistakes.

But BYU powered on, punched up the middle and then sent it wide. St. Mary’s defended well, but a nifty kick from Jared Whippy to the corner of in-goal allowed wing Kevin Schofield to race in and score. Right off the restart, BYU send No. 8 Joe Pikula down the sideline for a second try and a 10-3 lead.

Michael Geib photo.

Seven minutes later, wing Tommy Wallace went in at the corner for St. Mary's to make it 10-8. But again BYU answered quickly, this time with some pressure leading to a Jared Whippy penalty goal.

Then Jared's twin brother Joshua powered through to make it 20-8 at halftime.

"We knew we had to stay focused going into the second half despite our 12-point lead at the end of the first half," Jared Whippy told BYU Rugby. "We always to need to play our best."

So BYU kept up the attack, thundering down the sideline, and then spinning the ball back across the field to set up lock Matt Jensen. Center and former HS All American Calvin Whiting made the conversion and the Cougars had commanding 27-8 lead.

But St. Mary's never do what they're told, so why should they be commanded by a commanding lead? St. Mary's continued to play some open rugby, and Audsley went in and converted his own effort to make it 27-15. Whiting slotted a penalty kick to keep his side up by more than two scores, and that would prove an important kick.

With time winding down, St. Mary's threw everything they had at the BYU defense. Freshman and former HS All American Aaron Matthews went over, and Audsley converted, and it was 30-22. Again St. Mary's powered on, and perhaps the number of games these teams have played - St. Mary's far more than BYU - was telling in the strength with which the Gaels were finishing. One more try, and conversion, and that made it 30-29.

There was no time for another chance, though, as the referee blew full time.

"Our conditioning and mental focus was put to the test today," said BYU rugby assistant coach Wayne Tarawhiti. "Our boys held their ground and stuck to our game plan which paid off."

Michael Geib photo.

For St. Mary's the final 15-20 minutes was proof that they can score in bunches, but they were on their heels early against the Cougars.