Warriors hang on for victory over Old Glory

The Warriors held off a late comeback by Old Glory to take a 31-24 victory at a rainy Zions Bank Stadium on Friday night. Utah were dominant in the first half and pushed out to a 28-5 lead in the second, but DC stormed back in the final quarter to salvage two bonus points on the road.

It was a somewhat conservative approach by Utah to start the game, with their forwards taking center stage. Within 15 minutes they had two tries from nearly identical situations, with Frank Lochore and Dylan Nel each punching over from close range after driving mauls had been slowed. Joel Hodgson was on song with both conversions to make it 14-nil.

The backline was then let lose with Caleb Makene slicing through off a set move from a scrum. He connected with Michael Manson, but the final offload to Kieran McClea was forward and the try was waved off. That didn’t concern Hodgson, who dummied his way through a disjointed defense and then looped around to deliver the scoring pass to Mika Kruse. This time the points stayed on the board.

Just past the half-hour mark Old Glory found their way to the line. William Talataina made progress in the midfield to earn a penalty. The points were turned down in favor of the corner, and when the lineout drive stalled Jack Iscaro drove in to claim the try. Jason Robertson’s kick bounced off the upright and the halftime score read 21-5 in favor of the home team.

The skies opened to start the second half, making handling difficult for both sides. Utah went back to their forwards and though DC had their measure in the maul, Nic Souchon broke from the back and freed his hands in the tackle to sent McClea through for the bonus point try.

Old Glory found a second wind at the hour mark. Perry Humphreys and Connor Buckley made progress with half-breaks, and then Gradyn Bowd found Robertson open out wide with a cross-kick. The intensity of the rain increased and Lochore was binned for an offside, and DC took full advantage at the scrum with a penalty try to bring them within 9 points of their hosts.

That would be as close as they would get. Hodgson grabbed some insurance with a three-pointer that put the game out of reach, but the door was still open for a losing bonus point. Phil Bradford saw yellow for a dangerous tackle and when Utah turned the ball over they mistakenly cleared to touch before time had expired. The Old Glory pack did the rest, with Martín Vaca on the end of a maul to claim the fourth try for the visitors on full-time.

Both teams will play at home next Saturday. Old Glory heads back to Maryland to host the Miami Sharks, and later that day Utah will square off against their Western Conference rival Houston SaberCats.

SCORING

UTAH 31
Tries (4) – F. Lochore (8′), D. Nel (14′), M. Kruse (25′), K. McClea (52′)
Cons (4) – J. Hodgson 4/4 (9′, 15′, 26′, 53′)
Pens (1) – J. Hodgson 1/1 (77′)
YC (2) – F. Lochore (68′), P. Bradford (78′)

DC 24
Tries (4) – J. Iscaro (31′), J. Robertson (61′), Penalty try (69′), M. Vaca (80′)
Cons (2) – J. Robertson 1/2 (62′), No kick (69′), G. Bowd 0/1

LINEUPS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Emerson Prior (17 Franco van den Berg 55′), 2 Nic Souchon (16 Phil Bradford 55′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Tonga Kofe 62′), 4 Frank Lochore, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Thomas Tu’avao (20 Kalisi Moli 62′), 7 Bailey Wilson (19 Louis Conradie 55′), 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Kieran McClea (21 Zion Going 55′), 10 Joel Hodgson (capt.), 11 Joe Mano, 12 Alesana Pohla (22 Lopeti Aisea 48′), 13 Mika Kruse, 14 Michael Manson, 15 Caleb Makene

Not used: 23 Isaia Kruse

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Quentin Newcomer 68′), 2 Facundo Gattas (16 Martín Vaca HT), 3 Cali Martinez (18 Steven Longwell HT), 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Tevita Naqali (19 Bill Whiteside 68′), 6 Collin Grosse (20 Brady Daniel 35′), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Ethan McVeigh (21 Connor Buckley 53′), 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 John Rizzo (23 Ishmail Shabazz 77′), 12 William Talataina, 13 Damien Hoyland, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Jason Robertson (22 John Powers 62′)

MATCH INFO

Date: Friday, April 26
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: cloudy with showers, 46°F (8°C), wind N 2-4mph (3-6km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Kage Green (USA)
TMO: Amanda Cox (USA)

HIGHLIGHTS