BearSportsNew 4/14 Sunday Edition–post season awards and more Rugby news

Late Kudos for post season recognitions

Apologies for not being more timely; the delay is in part attributable to reluctance to give much credence to these awards. This should not be read as a diminution of these boys’ achievement, but to the contrary, it should reflect that the Post picks, in particular, tend to exalt those players so as to increase paper sales. Over the past few years, Landon has done well with one POY in hockey, but from watching a lot of MAPHL and IAC games, many Bears are rated well below the levels that their play merited.

That said, all of these Bears are most deserving of their recognition and most really should have received higher rewards than noted below:

WaPo All Met Honorable Mention in hockey–

defenseman Jack Barton ’14,

forward Graham Shue ’13 and

goalie Sam Kroll ’13.

The  named several Bears to their All-Gazette Team:

• Indoor Track and Field:

  • Malachi Bostic-Wattley ’13, first team

• Hockey:

  • Jack Barton ’14, first team (defense)

  • Sam Kroll ’13, first team (goalie)

  • Graham Shue ’13, first team (forward)

  • Will Buckingham ’13, second team (defense)

Landon also had a strong presence on the All-I.A.C. Team:

• Hockey: Jack Barton ’14, Sam Kroll ’13 and Graham Shue ’13

• Swimming and Diving: Ryan Curto ’14, John Freeman ’13 and Aidan Kelso ’13

• Wrestling: Jack Albrittain ’13 and Jackson Howard ’13

Finally, Sebastian Wells ’13 was named to the All-I.A.C. Tournament Team for basketball.

As a footnote, Sam Anas, 2010 WaPo Player of the Year, will be joining Quinipiac’s hockey team, which is the #1 college hockey team playing in the finals of the Frozen Four. Sam is the leading goal scorer in that league.

Rugby News from Coach Martin

We had another great rugby day yesterday afternoon amid intermittent downpours, moments of bright sun and even a double rainbow. Our A side took on Good Counsel and our B side took on Bell Multicultural High School.

Sam Jones caught the first kick off and charged up with field with Zack Zulauf close behind who picked the ball from the back of the ruck to continue the play. David Spiritos took his first of many charges from next to the ruck drawing a penalty from GC. Sam Jones’ boot got us even closer to scoring. Alex Ashy made some great lineout throws, but we couldn’t get the ball across the line at first. Harrison Voslow and Hal Pence made the first kick return, with Obai Kamara driving off a ruck, but GC kept finding ways to kick the ball out of their danger zone. Harrison Voslow and Jantay Abdychev were able to keep kicks in and return them, helping work the ball back close to scoring. GC proved to be strong tacklers, but we worked the ball inside. Our powerful forwards drove a ruck just a few feet from the tryline and Sam Jones picked the pall and snuck past GC to score our first try with a good conversion from Jack Sears.

We kept applying the pressure with more drives from Obai Kamara and some from Jamir Finley-Davis and before we knew it, we were back on the try line, with Ed Wolins quick awareness picking the ball, finding a gap low and touching it down. Sam Jones made a quick conversion. Ian Quill caught the next kick off and wove through multiple players who couldn’t bring him down, but eventually we did have to play some defense. Jake Harris drove GC players back and stopped line breaks, and Sam Jones was able to stuff one of their kickers before he could get the kick off. Jake Harris was close in support, recovering the unkicked ball and touching it down for another score. Trevor Wolf caught the next kick off in close support by Matt Johnston, who drove the next ball through multiple people running in and spinning off to get more ground. We began to use our finesse out wide, jumpstarted by another run from Ian Quill, then getting the ball wide to Taylor Dias who had a huge line break then offloaded the ball to Hal Pence in close support who touched it down.

Jack Sears kicked a grubber through GC’s backline and Harrison Voslow chased and tackled the kicker, securing the gained ground. Working the ball quickly left and out wide, through Jake Harris and Taylor Dias who made a long pass to Hal Pence, tackled before the line he popped it to David Spiritos in close support who touched it down. It wasn’t long before we were back in their end, Jamir Finley-Davis stole a lineout, then we drew another penalty. Executing our play, Sam Jones found a gap and touched it down. Ian Quill caught another kickoff and tore down the field, popped off the David Spiritos and then continued after the ruck by Randy Staples with another drive. Nick Blasey kept a GC kick in bounds and dove on it in another play to secure our possession. Neema Chinian had a great pick and go getting us down the field. Trevor Wolf popped to Jake Wright getting some ground and David Spiritos followed again, spinning in and touching it down. All in all, we were able to shut down GC and claim a victory! I didn’t see the scoreboard at the end, but final score was around 42-0.

B side took the field, showing tenacity and fearlessness. Bell was full of strong athletes who ran strong. Justin Kim showed aggression in his tackles, bringing down some of their biggest players. Nico Sensenbrenner and Max Rogers teamed up on the sideline to bring down another one, but their support players were able to run through and score. Brian Gelb stepped up with some big hits, and we eventually recovered the ball and a chance to demonstrate our strengths. Nick Blasey was quick to the back of the ruck and made consistently clear connections to Brian Gelb who started the back line offense. Amil Agarwal demonstrated his skills getting the ball out to Justin Kim who was supported on the wing by Max Rogers. Multiple times we were able to work the ball wide and around their strong forwards and they couldn’t catch us. Nick Blasey also got the ball to Neema who showed his speed and strength getting down the field. Despite our efforts we couldn’t get the ball across the Bell was able to score again despite Nico’s incredible chase and dive to save the try.

Alex Ashy kept up the speed on offense, making a weaving run and Randy Staples supported with his own run, dragging a few players with him. When we were back on defense, Josh Copito showed up with some huge, low tackles, committing until the player was brought down. We recovered the ball and Blake Dannenbaum carried the ball down the field, keeping strong on his feet until he had support. Max Rogers made some great rucks and tackles. On one of Bell’s line breaks, Nico Sensenbrenner made another great chase, this time tackling the player and keeping him from scoring. Josh Copito, Neema Chinian, Jake Wright and Blake Dannenbaum also put great pressure on Bell in lineouts and were joined by Randy Staples and Wesley Pan in our scrums. All in all, we never backed down, continued to demonstrate our superior skills and teamwork, and despite the score board, we gave them a fight. Final score, 19-0, Bell victory.

Up and down our roster every player displayed their athleticism and drive and upheld standards of sportsmanship. We have things to work on before our game against Model next Thursday, but we’re heading in a positive direction.

Rest well this weekend, boys! And get ready for next week!

Go Bears!

Coach Martin