The Mid-South may be just three teams, but those teams are usually very close. 

In 2014 (when Arkansas State was also part of the conference), for example, seven of the 12 games were decided by a try or less. Last year, in six games, five were decided by a try or less.

So that’s why last Saturday’s 45-15 Life victory over Lindenwood was so notable - it was the biggest margin of victory in the conference, and accomplished despite the fact that Lindenwood has been playing some impressive rugby of late.

Sophomore prop Estevan Florez said it was all down to the right entity.

“Lindenwood is a good team and always gives us a good game,” Florez told Goff Rugby Report. “They are strong and big. Our coaches told us we needed to have the right technique and we had to be tough both mentally and physically. We’re not the biggest team so we have been focusing on skill and technique, and the right mental approach, and it worked.”

Florez joined Life Rugby after serving five years in the US Navy as a corpsman. He served two years in Sicily, where he took up rugby, eventually playing with the Amatori Catania club, where former USA star Paul Emerick played years before. He’s a smart, tough player who has seen something of the world, and his leadership has been crucial for what is a fairly young Life team.

Youth indiscretion might have hurt Life against Navy the week before, when Life pulled out a 28-19 victory. Navy was a difficult opponent, to be sure, but the Running Eagles got into penalty and card trouble. 

“Each week we have something to work on and definitely coming out of that game we had to talk about our discipline,” said Florez. “That was a problem for us. It comes down to the same thing, though, about being mentally and physically tough. That includes being disciplined.”

Life still suffered a yellow card to Jason Riekana, to there’s more work to be done there.

So on to this weekend, where Life hosts Davenport, a Panthers team stung by a big loss to Arkansas State last week.

“We know they will be difficult, and we know they will want to bounce back,” said Florez. “But for us, we have themes we follow each week and one of them is about being our better selves. We don’t necessarily look at the opponent, but instead look at ourselves and what we can do to be better. We have to start with that. Having said that, Davenport will bring it, and because they will, that will help us develop our team, too.”

Notes: Last week, Davenport lost 53-0 to Arkansas State in a fairly humbling experience. Meanwhile, Life were in a battle with Lindenwood for the first 25 minutes. It was 7-3 until Harley Davidson’s kick-and-chase made it 14-3. Sam Cowley, Cody Melphy (three times), Zander Van Schalkwyk, and Jeremy Leber all scored tries and Blane McIlroy hit five conversions.