Toughest D1AA Conference? SCRC Looks to Fall
Toughest D1AA Conference? SCRC Looks to Fall
Just because Kentucky is a two-time defending NCR D1AA champion doesn’t necessarily mean the SCRC is the toughest conference, but it’s a pretty tough conference and could well be the most difficult to win.
Kentucky probably remains the favorite here, but the other eight teams are dangerous to very good: Alabama, Auburn, Kennesaw State, Kentucky, LSU are in the West, with Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee in the East.
Let’s take a look:
Kentucky
Championship game MVP Michael Punzalan, top-flight flyhalf Jack Phillips, and powerful prop Jared Monnier have all graduated. But of the gameday 23 that beat Bowling Green in the final, 14 return, and 11 more got significant A-side time last year.
With over 70 players on the roster, the challenge might well be finding game time for all of these players. Head Coach Sam Enari said the non-conference schedule is hugely important, both for finding everyone competition and for finding the front-line players additional challenges.
How Kentucky Pulled Off the Repeat
A solid recruiting class includes Colin Spellacy, who helped St. Ignatius of Cleveland win the HS National Chamionship and Panther Rugby Academy win the National Youth 7s U18 bracket. He’s a center with an effective left foot and good overall skills.
Elliot Smyth of Valor Rugby in Colorado is a lock and a strong performer for Rebel Rugby and EIRA. Alex Dempsey is a center from Denver East and has toured with EIRA. Deagan Sart is a flyhalf/fullback from Regis Jesuit and another Rebel Rugby standout. Notable, all three of those Colorado-based players were captains of their respective teams.
Zionsville (Ind.) player Isaac Keller can play all over and is another Panther Rugby alum.
That’s just a few of 21 incoming freshmen, of which, 19 are from out of the state.
Coming back will be an outstanding loose forward trio of Gage Curry, Holden Hahn, and Everett Marrett. This is a hard-working group that makes tackles and is very savvy over the ball. Joe and Luke Keough are back with Joe a central part of the UK backline and Joe key at lock. Without Monnier, the front row will rely heavily on Blaine Donlon.
The big question is, who will play flyhalf?
That’s a question that hasn’t been answered fully yet, but John Dardis looks like he might be the guy. Dardis played wing last year but he is a very good goalkicker and played flyhalf for the Panther Rugby Academy in the RAN U19 Championships when he was younger.
So this looks to be a Wildcat team that is reloading rather than rebuilding. We’ve discussed their recruiting plan before and it’s not a one-time thing. They are always looking to being prepared for next year, and the year after that.
Clemson
The Tigers return all-stars and All Americans Noah Ainsworth (hooker), Alex Smith-Stephens (fullback), Payton Hayes (flyhalf), and Campbell Van Rooyen (No. 8).
Head Coach Troy Hall said he is excited about his freshman recruiting group of eight, along with three transfers.
“We had a large graduating group for sure, but we have plenty of exciting players coming in, and it’s a new opportunity,” Hall said.
Scrumhalf Griffyn Morgan from Toronto and center Max Wyckoff from Xavier HS might well be ready to make an impact early.
Hall has lineup Lander and Belmont Abbey as tough preseason matches, and he knows that he’s got a tough conference schedule with Tennessee and South Carolina at home, and Georgia on the way. They are all must-win matches, Hall said.
“That’s nothing new to us. It's been that type of schedule since I arrived at Clemson.”
South Carolina
So the Gamecocks are also looking for that elusive top two spot in the East—get in the top two and you’re into the conference semifinals.
They return most of their starting 15 from last year, including All-SCRC prop and team MVP Tom Brady, and fellow MVP Gavin Curran, who is at No. 8.
Aussie fullback Charlie Dwyer has, hopefully, put his injuries behind him and is back. He is highly skilled. Max Hendry and Grant Ruhlen connect at the 9-10 combination. Ruhlen led the Gamecocks in scoring last year.
And out wide Charlie Feehan is very dangerous.
They bring in some solid recruits including Max Hendry’s brother, Aidan, who is a 6-5 lock who played for Arizona and is now entering grad school at USC. Another grad student is Frenchman Louis Leveque who brings in a ton of experience.
Freshmen Brett Sparks (St Joseph’s Prep, PA) and Thomas Regan (Rockaway, NY) will provide size and depth in front row, which USC needs.
“The conference games will be very competitive,” said Head Coach John Roberts. “Two of our key games are away. Clemson is always a coin flip and we have not beaten Tennessee in 15s in many years. But feel we are closing the gap.
“For the first time since I have been, entering fourth season, we should have good size in our forwards, which has hurt us late in games. Our backline should be explosive. Keys will be developing cohesion between backs and forwards and avoiding the injury bug.”
If that happens, they have the talent and depth to make shake things up.
Tennessee
Another program with a big squad is Tennessee. They have over 65 players this year, with a solid group of forwards returning.
Senior No. 8 Roman Funkhouser, sophomore hooker Nate Rawls, and sophomore flanker Niko Zaharas come back although they have some key players to replace, including All Americans Matthew Beacom and Brendan Bibb.
Head Coach Scott Tungay said he’s excited about the second row players he has and there will be some competition for selections in that position.
In the backs, senior flyhalf Brendan O'Neill and senior center Michael McGettigan were all-conference and they return. Keep an eye on scrumhalf Zach O'Reilly.
They add to that 19 new players, 15 of them freshmen and four transfers. flanker/lock Nick Orefice returns to his home state from Lindenwood. Charlotte Cardinals flyhalf Vincent Keller brings a big boot and good playmaking ability. Father Ryan’s Jacob Anton is a hard-hitting loose forward.
So it’s going to be touch in-conference, and the Volunteers prepare for that with fixtures against Queens, Ohio State, and Appalachian State.
“The match against Ohio State will be a big test of our early-season ability to dictate our game plan,” said Tungau. “The match against Appalachian State will give a few of our new players an opportunity to compete at the 1st-team level.”
Tennessee has the potential to play some great rugby, added the coach. But they can’t take a week off.
LSU
An up-and-coming team, LSU, beat South Carolina 23-15 to take 3rd in the conference last year, and beat NC State in the NCR playoff play-in before bowing out to a very good UMass team.
Head Coach Chris Riedel is determined for that performance to be followed up.
“We’re in a strong position heading into this season,” Riedel told GRR.
Player Leadership Turns It Around for LSU
The team returns captain Neal Geldenhuys and All-Conference Nick Piazza, along with the majority of our starting roster.
Also returning are Matt Correa, backs captain Tim McGoldrick and Nate Williams, Tyler Anclade, and Wes Lebeau.
They will have to handle the loss of three All-Conference players Jeremy Howat, Sam Vallejos, and Sam Garwood.
“But the returning core has a lot of experience, and several younger players from last year have made big strides in the offseason,” said Riedel.
Cameron Coughlin (Brother Martin, La.), Anthony Ayre (Morris Co., NJ), and Jacob Howat (Jesuit New Orleans) head a strong recruiting class.
“Overall, I feel confident about the team’s potential and have a lot of faith in the leadership of captain Neal Geldenhuys to guide this group to another strong season,” added Reidel.
And That's Just Five
This is a competitive conference top to bottom. No one can cruise through it. Kentucky is, indeed, the favorites to win, but they won't have it handed to them. And whichever team comes out of the SCRC West will be battle-tested.
| 2025 Fall SCRC D1AA Schedule | ||||
| 9/13 | Georgia | at | Tennessee | SCRC |
| 9/20 | Auburn | at | Kentucky | SCRC |
| 9/20 | Kennesaw State | at | Kentucky | SCRC |
| 9/20 | LSU | at | Alabama | SCRC |
| 9/20 | Clemson | at | Georgia | SCRC |
| 9/27 | South Carolina | at | Tennessee | SCRC |
| 9/27 | Alabama | at | Auburn | SCRC |
| 10/4 | Alabama | at | Kennesaw State | SCRC |
| 10/4 | Auburn | at | LSU | SCRC |
| 10/4 | Tennessee | at | Clemson | SCRC |
| 10/11 | Kentucky | at | Alabama | SCRC |
| 10/11 | LSU | at | Kennesaw State | SCRC |
| 10/11 | South Carolina | at | Clemson | SCRC |
| 10/18 | Georgia | at | South Carolina | SCRC |
| 10/18 | LSU | vs | Kentucky | SCRC |
| 10/25 | Kennesaw State | at | Auburn | SCRC |
| 11/1 | SCRC #1 | vs | SCRC #4 | SCRC |
| 11/1 | SCRC #2 | vs | SCRC #3 | SCRC |
| 11/1 | SCRC #8 | vs | SCRC #5 | SCRC |
| 11/1 | SCRC #6 | vs | SCRC #7 | SCRC |
| 11/8 | SF Loser | vs | SF Loser | SCRC |
| 11/8 | SF Winner | vs | SF Winner | SCRC |
| 11/8 | 5th SF Lose | vs | 5th SF Lose | SCRC |
| 11/8 | 5th SF Winner | vs | 5th SF Winner | SCRC |
