Thomas More Wins Big Rivers, Wheeling Takes a Big One

10.22.2022

Thomas More defeated Marian 52-13 in Big Rivers action to remain unbeaten in the conference.

Marian battled in the opening half and it was only 12-6 until late in the first half when Luca Mattassini scored to make it 17-6.

Thomas More got an early try from prop Hudson Montgomery and then another from Lorenzo Lelli. Marian replied with two penalty goals from flyhalf Tommaso Lorrenzetti.

At 17-6 Marian was in with a show but were hut hard by a try seconds into the second half with center Rafael O'Gorman scoring and converting his own try.

That made it 24-6 and Thomas More pulled away from there with O'Gorman, Manual Zubiri, Holway Casini, and Mattassini again going over.

O'Gorman ended up with with 20 points with two tries and five conversions.

Marian scored a try late in the game thanks to hooker Daniel Riecke, converted by Lorenzetti.

The win finished Thomas More's record at 5-0 and they win the conference and will go into the NCR D1 playoffs.

Also in Big Rivers, in what was a bit of a shocker, Wheeling defeated Adrian 43-16 to finish 3-2. Adrian also ended up 3-2 and with the extra bonus point, Wheeling takes 2nd.

Wheeling opened the scoring with a snappy run from Gamebreaker Aaron Juma. Juma then scored another, showcasing his pace to make it 14-0. Adrian responded with two penalty goals, but as the game worse on Wheeling's pace started to show.

Lawula Bata picked up a loose ball and raced 70 meters to score just before halftime. And while Adrian scored first in the second half the Cardinals kept them at arm's length with a try from Mohamed Hadar in the 56th minute, That made it 26-13. Adrian added a penalty to get within 10, but that was it.

In the final quarter Noam Taurin and Juma both scored tries. Jali's kicking was excellent, with another penalty and two more conversions, making it a 5-for-6 day on conversions and a total of 13 points on the day.

Wheeling will be in the playoffs and it may be there's a playoff with Adrian.

Big Rivers	W	L	T	PF	PA	PD	BT	BL	Pts
Thomas More	5	0	0	206	82	124	5	0	25
Wheeling	3	2	0	169	129	40	4	0	16
Adrian	3	2	0	163	138	25	3	0	15
Marian	2	3	0	122	148	-26	2	1	11
Iowa Central CC	1	3	0	103	134	-31	1	2	7
Aquinas	0	4	0	75	207	-132	1	0	1

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