On Saturday your Kern County Tuskers took on the Huntington Beach Unicorns in a much anticipated Division II showdown. It was a must win game for the Tuskers, fresh off of a win over San Fernando Valley the week prior and looking to build momentum. The day did not disappoint as the crowd was treated to a display of solid, hard hitting Kern County rugby! Tusker great -Mike Fannuchi was on hand to present game jerseys and spur on the boys with a pre-game motivational talk. It must have worked as Kern went on to, in the words of Mr. Fannuchi himself, put on the best rugby Bakersfield has seen in years...making the old folks proud. The old folks including Kern Old Boy John Purcell who set the bar high stating this may be the best rugby he has seen since the 70s. It was definitely a day to remember.

 

Kern found themselves down by 7 points early in the first half but overcame numerous penalties to put together a successful drive, right before half time, in the form of John Oglesby crashing over the try line for a well deserved reward. Half time 7-7. From this point on it was all Kern. Forwards and backs alike ran the ball hard, played solid support and tackled effectively to set up the first try of the second half again by big winger John Oglesby, scoring between the posts. Tries within the next ten minutes by Justin Jackson and Jeremy Ramirez pushed Kern well ahead of the visitors to the tune of 26-7. However the Tuskers still had more in the tank. On probably the best fullback crash in recent years, Lucas Ramos set up flanker Mark Durando for a beautiful try under the posts that had the entire crowd on their feet cheering. Rookie Garrett Brown capped the day with a cheeky try, breaking tackles and defying gravity, to score the final points of the day bringing the final tally to 38-7 Kern. Man of the Match was Jeremy Ramirez and Wicus Postma walked away with the Kern Wood award.

 

The second side game was all Kern as the boys shut out the visiting side to the tune of 28-0. Rookies Garrett Brown and Jay Garber continued to show great improvement with well earned tries and punishing defense. Man of the Match went to Luis Rangel who played inspiring rugby on the wing scoring two text book tries and tackling like a mad man. The piggies also had a few great runs with Abel Ruesga back in the mix and big Frank Andrade rumbling down the pitch. 

Prior to the game youth rugby coach Martin Morozowsky treated the supporters to an exciting boys vs. girls touch rugby game. The nippers ran strong and a good time was had by all. The girls came out ahead on the day setting the stage for a much anticipated re-match at Kern’s next home game vs. Riverside on March 3, 2012.

There will be no youth rugby practice this week as the men’s team will be cross training and reviewing film in preparation for the next league game vs. Santa Barbara on February 18 ^th at Santa Barbara. Kern’s win Saturday puts us tied for third place with Huntington Beach – keep it coming Kerny!

Kern fell to long time opponent, and last years Southern California Rugby Football Union Division II champion, San Diego Old Aztecs yesterday in a 32-0 shut out.  The scoreline, however does not reflect the intensity of the first 65 minutes.  Kern held strong and played some of the best defense in recent years holding the defending champions to 7 points in the first half.  The Old Aztecs dominance in scrums and relentless attack eventually broke the Kern line resulting in the final count for the day.  The Tuskers did keep their heads high for an exciting try scoring rich second side game that kept the crowd on their feet and the first side watching their back in respect to securing their starting positions. 

 

Bright spots on the opening day included Mark Durando's solid performance at flanker and John Oglesby's crushing tackles on defense.  Marcus Felix showed his veteran moxy in leading the second side in a well contested match as well.  Man of the Match was awarded to Mark Durando and Marcus Felix, for the first and second side respectively and John Oglesby won the Kern Wood Award for the day.

 

The youth clinic continued to draw new participants and the new Kern County RFC youth rugby coach Martin Morozowsky put on a youth exhibition match for the parents and supporters.  You should have seen how eager the little nippers were!

 

Kern travels to Eagle Rock this Saturday for the ultimate grudge match and a chance at redemption.  Go Kerny!

 

 

Kern County traveled to Fresno yesterday in search of Valley bragging rights and came home smiling.  The coaching staff arranged a last minute pre-season arrangement in the hopes of putting the final touches of preparation for the season opener against the Old Aztecs next week.  The match did not dissappoint.  Fresno came out strong with tries out wide creating a hole from which Kern would have to dig itself from.  Kern's rallying cry came at the end of the first half in the form of Jeremy Ramirez plowing headfirst in to traffic from 25 meters out and with a little help from his friends scoring underneath the posts.  Lucas Ramos's conversion closed the first half at 10-7 Fresno. 

 

The second half witnessed a renewed committment to proper tackling and rucking on the part of Kern yet Fresno did manage to score off of a counter attack creating an overlap to the outside.  In the 60th minute of the match Kern was able to link the hard earned multiple phases of forward and back play to score a much needed try in the form of Jeremy Ramirez once again touching down for Kern.  Lucas Ramos's second conversion of the game put the score at 15-14 Fresno.  A cheeky try by Fresno that capitalized on a miscommunication between Kern's pack and backs led to Kern being down 20-14 with about 15 minutes in the game.  Possession was regained by Kern and the march towards Fresno's try line began.  An unfortunate knock on on a near try by Kern had the Tuskers on their heels and in what could have been the most important scrum of the day the piggies won the scrum against the head setting up a series of crashing runs resulting in Mike "I swear these are grey highlights" Munoz scoring wide of the posts to bring the Tuskers within 1 point.  Kelly Naden went on the seal the deal with a conversion to win the game in the 80th minute.  Jeremy Ramirez was named the man of the match and Mark Durando took home the wood award. 

 

Kern faces the Old Aztecs at home on Saturday, January 14th at Emerald Cove Park.  As with all of the home games this season the Tuskers will be putting on a non-contact youth clinic and exhibition matches for kids of all ages from 10 am - 12 noon before the game.  Bring out the family and enjoy the day supporting your Kern County Rugby Club.