MSU kicked off the new rugby season with a  scrimmage  against  Angelo
State at San Angelo Saturday.

The match did not start very well as mistakes cost MSU in the red zone of the field resulting in an unconverted try for ASU.

MSU defense held on and were only down 0-5 after the first period.

Fullback Matt Davis played good defensively as well as offensively in the first period.

Davis was able to retrieve kicks and pull the offense with him while doing so.

MSU was disappointed to lose Davis to injury in the first half.

The second period proved to be worse as MSU gave up two soft tries again due to mistakes both on
the defense and offense.

The Mustangs also lost Center Chris Dewbre to a knee injury. ASU pulled away for a final score of 0-26.

“We are missing some key players that were not able to travel this weekend and this made us look rusty,” commented Head Coach Rod Puentes. “We have a good core of players who have returned this season but some key skill positions such as scrum half and fly half are needing to be filled.”

Some of MSU’s new players played with great athleticism and got a lot of game time.

Michael Katey showed potential with superb ball handling skills and defense.

Katey played his first match and made some great tackles.

Flanker Luis Banda and Senior  Lock Tyler Schmidt had some good break-away runs that almost resulted in scores.

“Overall as a coach, I got to see what I wanted to see,” added Puentes. “ASU is a good team and is a good standard to compare our team with.”

The Mustangs are set to play a collegiate tournament in Fort Worth which include Division I and Division II schools.

MSU, who is in the Collegiate Division III, competes well against the higher divisions.