Southern Nazarene kicked off their entry into conference play with a 53-23 defeat of a very solid UMS&T side in the Gateway Conference.
As Southern Nazarene is a school-supported team they are not eligible for the D2 playoffs, and would potentially track to a D1AA postseason under NCR. But they still have to get some conference competition and the Gateway is the best place for that.
This is a very young SNU side as befits a new program. From their roster of 25, only a small few are older than freshman or sophomore. So it's no surprise that some freshmen stood out. First-year scrumhalf Tré Griffin led the attack nicely and scored three tries, for example.
Some older players did well also, getting player of the game honors after scoring three tries, including one where he launched a high ball on the run, caught it, and galloped in from 40 meters out.
Both Griffin and Bradford played for SNU Head Coach Aric Gilliland when they were at Yukon High School (now known as F5 Rugby), so there was a comfort level there, too. Griffin connected well with flyhalf Creed Hicken to keep the attack moving.
"They maintained a nice balance of using the forwards‘ strength and backs’ speed and skills to attack all areas of the pitch," said Gilliland.
The game was much closer at halftime, with SNU ahead only 20-15 at the break. S&T then tied the game right after halftime. But for the final 30 minutes it was pretty much all Crimson Storm, with the forwards getting the upper hand in the set piece and the SNU backs winning the kicking game.
"We have a lot of improvement to make but the boys have given themselves a nice platform upon which they can build," said Gilliland.
