The Gargoyles 7-1 season ended this past weekend in a playoff loss to the Chicago Riot in the quarter finals. The final score ended at 46-12 but did not reflect the hard hitting and running that went on for most of the game. The Gargs entered this final week missing 3 of their normal starters. Ryan Peters – Fly Half – out with a shoulder injury; Barry Marquardt – Lock – out with a concussion; Patrick Woodbridge – Prop – out with Hamstring/Knee injuries. The lineup was shuffled around to accommodate the injuries with Tom Wainwright filling in at Fly Half, Heriberto Arturo Aquinopena in at Prop, Mitch Steger in at Flanker, Steve Vidas shifting to Lock, and Matt Dictus shifting to 8 man.
The Riot got the first score but the Gargoyles answered back quickly. The back and forth battle continued for the first half with the score heading into the break being 19-12, with the Riot on top. Heading into the half the Gargoyles suffered another big injury, losing Aquinopena to a head injury. He was replaced by Woodbridge, who played through his injuries to make an impact for the first 20-25 minutes of the second half. The speedster Mike Lyons also came in at half to replace Jason Plaster on the outside.
During this time the Riot made another try to get the score up to 26-12 before Woodbridge had to exit after reaggravating his leg injury. David Ray came in to replace him at prop. Shortly after Jordan Hietpas came in at Hooker for Joe VW, and Alex Buchberger came in for Robert Byrne at lock. The remainder of the game the Gargs were able to put up some stout defense and make some big runs on offense but were not able to capitalize and put up any more points. The Riot were able to capitalize on some mistakes to put up scores to get the final up to 46-12. Scores by Ryan Melso and Alton Kruckeberg.
The Gargoyles had a great season putting up a ton of points and not letting a lot be scored on them. They are excited to train in the offseason and come back ready to win next fall. Big thanks to Coaches – Jay Farrington & Matt Crapeau, Assistant Coach – Tom Wainwright.
Starting Squad
- 1 – Andrew Urbanas
- 2 – Joseph Vander Wyst
- 3 – Heriberto Arturo Aquinopena
- 4 – Robert Byrne
- 5 – Steven Vidas
- 6 – Noah Coulthurst
- 7 – Mitch Steger
- 8 – Matt Dictus
- 9 – Jacob Mason
- 10 – Thomas Wainwright
- 11 – Aaron Melso
- 12 – Trevor Van Straten
- 13 – Ryan Melso
- 14 – Jason Plaster
- 15 – Alton Kruckeburg
Subs
- Mike Lyons
- David Ray
- Patrick Woodbridge
- Jordan Hietpas
- Alex Buchberger
Injured
- Barry Marquardt
- Ryan Peters
- Jay Farrington
Lost or Missing
- Ryan Surprise
- Issac Zilles
- Jason Bilek
- Ryan Hansen
- Nathan Ricker
Although the Gargoyles lost in the playoffs and suffered some injuries, the biggest loss on the day was Matt Dictus’ 20 year old shorts that he had been wearing since high school.
