Penn HS Shows Growth in Midwest Championship Win
Penn HS Shows Growth in Midwest Championship Win
Penn HS presented their longtime coach Bart Bottorff with a nice present Sunday as they defeated St. Edward to win the Midwest Championship tournament.
Penn, a regular contender for Indiana state, Midwest, and national titles struggled a little last season but bolstered their standing this past fall with a state 7s win.
Still they hadn't quite put it together this spring. Over the weekend they kind of figured it out. With Bottorff stepping down as Head Coach this year after almost three decades at the helm, the players wanted to make a bit of a statement for their outgoing coach. And they did.
After shutting out Chargers in the opening round and beating a tough Avon side 36-7, Penn took on a St. Edward team that had bottled up their opposition on their way to the final. Penn was able to get out and around St. Edward's defense to win 20-8.
"We kind of finally figured it out; something we've been trying to do for two years," said Bottorff. "We just started to play good rugby. We handled their kicking game well and were really good on the counter-attack. Our penalty count was atrocious, but we defended well and overall played well."
The key was after Penn scored going into halftime. St. Edward came right back and was right on the tryline. Penn somehow held them out and that was a big stop. The game, said Bottorff, might have been very different if St. Ed's had been able to score before the break.
In the second half the effort level was there to close it out. One of the players came off the field, gave Bottorff a hug and said "that was for you, coach."
Leading the way for Penn was fullback Dylan Quimby, who was named player of the game and who ran that effective counter. Scrumhalf Seed Kiruu continued to be a spark for the team, always a threat to tap quickly and burn defenses, and his goalkicking was solid, too. Wally Kennach has been playing some No. 8 despite the fact he is a really good hooker, because it allows him more freedom to get involved and carry the ball. But with the Penn back row developing nicely he was moved back to hooker, in essence giving Penn four back row-type players in loose play.
The difference was clear, as Kennach had a huge impact throughout the game.