Summer is usually a time for lounging, bronzing up, and hitting the gym for beach muscles. However, while most have been enjoying their time of relaxation, the gentlemen of AHO Rugby have been hard at work. With the inspiration of the most successful Spring season in the history of their existence fueling them, AHO Rugby embarked on a war-path that spanned two different Sevens rugby tournaments. Their first target was Cape Fear Sevens in Wilmington, NC that took place July 3rd - 4th.
To begin their conquest AHO Rugby assembled a star-studded Sevens roster composed of beloved pretty boy Drew "Franchise" Zabor, his partner in double trouble John-David Dorsey, Ryan "Get Serious" Murphy, leading try scorer Matt "Leroy" Markofski, country boys Seth Saunders and Cory Jones, Josh "J-Train" Smith, Vice President Travis Connor, El Presidente Randy Akerman, Trevor Strandh, and Michael "Bubba" Markofski. This experienced squad arrived with a single goal in mind, victory.
Though, they would have to overcome their generally lack in cohesive Sevens experience first. With no formal practices under their belt as a Sevens squadron, AHO confronted their first opponent of the day. Intriguingly, their opposition was an all too familiar NC State Rugby team. AHO kept their previous victory over their rival in mind as they unleashed an onslaught of attacking speed and aggressive tackling. These attributes proved crucial and led AHO to a dominate 49-0 victory over their respected rival. After achieving such a victory the gentlemen of AHO could not help radiating confidence as they continued to charge through the tournament.
The squad continued to utilize their seemingly unstoppable combination of speed and aggression to out-point Towson 28-17, begin their international conquest by breezing past an experienced Kenyan Exiles team 35-0, and to lastly defeat a highly competitive Charlotte Mens Rugby Club B 35-19. By stringing together these victories AHO reached the semi-finals of the tournament where they would face the heavily experienced Kudu team. The South African team had consecutively won the Club Division of Cape Fear several times, but AHO was looking to dethrone their reign.
AHO quickly attacked as always, putting up the first try with resounding success. However, the experience of the South African Kudus allowed for them to showcase a display of impressive off-loads and finesse that allowed for them to take the lead 14-12 going into the later minutes of the game. Impressively, with time dwindling AHOs Josh Smith managed to weave into the try-zone, but a controversial knock-on was called that prevented the score. Sadly, yet another controversial call was made as Ryan Murphy was given a yellow card. Now with only six men on the pitch, AHO was overwhelmed as the Kudus rolled into the try-zone for a final time to reach the matchs final score of 19-12. The Kudus thoroughly congratulated AHO for a highly competitve game before going on to face New Haven in the finals. The Kudus manhandled them, winning 49-5, and allowing for the gentlemen of AHO to claim a rightful, honorary Second-place finish.
Tries were scored throughout the tournament by Drew Zabor, JD Dorsey, Cory Jones, Seth Saunders, Ryan Murphy, Josh Smith, and Travis Connor.
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Finishing the competitive Cape Fear tournament with a 4-1 record filled the AHO Sevens Squad with new-found confidence. However, they yearned for success and knew that it was a must to finish the Summer with a Sevens tournament win. Due to this fact, the gentlemen of AHO decided to head to Bele-Chere Rugby tournament that took place July 24th, corresponding with the Bele-Chere Festival that took place in Asheville.
The gentlemen of AHO were more than prepared for the 16 Mens Club teams that they would be competing against, especially with the additions of Alex MacRae and the leading scorer full-back Daniel Kelly to the Sevens roster. Thankfully, competing in Cape Fear had properly prepared the team for Bele-Chere tournament. They put away a young, yet skilled Knoxville Spartan team, managing to shake-off their early morning rust. AHO then found their stride as they rolled through a competitive and expierence Southern Pines with overwhelming speed and hard-hits on impressive defensive stands. Following those two victories, AHO confronted the FROGs, a team composed of current and veteran players from Furman Universitys rugby squad. However, AHO managed to dismantle them with initial quick-tries, signature hard-hitting, and a final scoring drive to secure their lead.
With these three victories AHO managed to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Bele-Chere tournament. Their highly competitive play continued as they faced Johnson City, a team who had defeated South Carolina and the Horde into to advance. Nonetheless, AHO speed and aggression proved key as they marched to a decisive victory. The gentlemen of AHO were prepared whatever team remained in their way with a spot secured in the tournament finals.
That team happened to be NC State. Fate had aligned it so that these teams would meet once again. After personally requesting the DJ to play Tupac Shakur during their final match, the gentlemen of AHO were poised for victory. AHO immediately took a drastic lead over NC State amidst the first half of the game, proving that their speed was too much for their rivals. However, NC State showed heart coming out for the second half as they orchestrated a quick, scoring drive off the initial kick. Sadly, that only enraged a vengeful AHO team. Hard-hits, fast breaks, and steals from their scrum set up second-half tries from the home-town Enka-Candler heroes Seth Saunders and Cory Jones. Those final points secured a decisive victory over their rivals and allowed for the gentlemen of AHO to proudly claim the first place trophy at the Bele-Chere Sevens tournament.
Tries were scored throughout Bele-Chere by AHO Most Valuable Player for the tournament Drew Zabor, JD Dorsey, Cory Jones, Seth Saunders, Alex MacRae, Ryan Murphy, Matt "Leroy" Markofski, and Michael "Bubba" Markofski. Points were provided throughout the tournament by Daniel Kelly.
It should be duly noted that this tournament marked the final time Ryan "Get Serious" Murphy and Alex MacRae would compete alongside the gentlemen of AHO. They truly went out rightfully by both scoring amidst the Bele-Chere tournament and contributing heavily to achieve this hard fought victory.
