Doylestown Rugby Football Club News – March 17, 2025
Men’s Team
Welcome to 2025 … the spring session for the 2024-2025 EPRU Division 2 Men’s Rugby season. Without a warmup match for the spring, the Doylestown Rugby Men’s Team went into their match against the men of Reading on Saturday, March 15, 2025, a little rusty with some cobwebs that needed to be dusted…. or so we thought.
Despite the overcast and chilly weather, the Dragons came out firing on all cylinders at the sound of the whistle. Even though they turned over the ball on the kickoff, they quickly regained possession and put Reading on their back foot. There were several minutes of back-and-forth play, but Reading was able to put the first points on the board. Leading the Dragons 0-7, Fionn O’Toole drilled a penalty kick to give the Dragons their first points. Doylestown was now fired up and about ten minutes later, Nicholas Kaczmarczyk forced his way in for the Dragons first try. The match continued being hard fought for another ten minutes, until Brian Stella intercepted a pass on defense and sprinted over 60 meters to give the Dragons a try, with Fionn O’Toole making the conversion. O’Toole drilled another penalty kick to close out the half. Doylestown was up 18-7.
Captain Matt Frederick had some choice words for the team and the forwards during halftime. The match was not over yet, nor were the conditions getting any better. Doylestown kicked off to start the second half. Both teams were disciplined and determined to not let the other have any advantages. However, the second half was dominated by Reading, at least on the scoreboard. Reading was able to touch down 3 trys in the second half, giving them the lead with moments left in the match. It came down to the last play. Prior to the last kickoff, the score was Doylestown 18, Reading 22.
There was only time left for the Dragons to kick the ball off. If Reading recovered, they could have kicked it out and the game would have been over, but Doylestown dug deep. The Dragons were able to recover the ball on the kickoff and pop it to Colin Patick who blistered down the touchline and centered the ball under the uprights. After the successful conversion from O’Toole, the final whistle blew and the Dragons emerged victorious. Final score: Doylestown 25 – Reading 22. The Man of the Match was Colin Patrick. The Hard hat was awarded to Kevin McCormack.
On March 22, the Dragons will host the men of Philadelphia Whitemarsh at home, with a slated 1:00 p.m. kickoff in their final regular season match of the 2024-2025 season. We encourage all Dragon fans and family to come out and support.
Match Film: https://youtu.be/Es1Zt8LFsAk?si=H-6CXUryk51t1Z3I
High School Boys’ Team
The Doylestown Rugby Academy High School Boys’ Team opened their RugbyPA league season at home on March 16, 2025 against Gregory the Great Academy (GGA). GGA is the defending state champion, is ranked #7 in the country, and beat the previously ranked #1 team in the country a few weeks ago. The match was fast and hard hitting from the opening whistle. GGA raced out to an 8-0 lead after 11 minutes. Doylestown then answered with 3 straight tries to reach halftime with a 17-8 lead. GGA punched in a try 14 minutes into the second half to narrow the lead to 17-15. The last 20 minutes included hard charging runs and fantastic defense from both sides, but that would be the last of the scoring. Doylestown won the league opener 17-15.
Try scorers were Alex Stukis (1), Gavin Graham (1), and Louie Cipollo (1). Jamie Weir kicked one conversion. GGA had two trys, one conversion and one penalty kick. The Man of the Match was Timmy Fuhrmeister. Doylestown heads to LaSalle College High School on March 23 for Round 2 of the RugbyPA season.
Match Film: https://youtu.be/Ek0S-_nSxHg?feature=shared
U16 Boys’ Team
The Doylestown Rugby Academy U16 Boys’ Team played Gregory the Great Academy at home on March 16, 2025 and came away with a 19-10 win. Doylestown had 29 players in uniform, most of them new to the sport, but good athletes. Great numbers and they are improving tremendously every week. This was a preseason match for the U16 and a very nice wintry scorers were Brady Meehan (2) and Max Smith (1). Jake Beckenhauer made two conversions. GGA had two trys. Doylestown U16 heads to LaSalle College High School on March 23 for their final preseason match of the year.
Match Film: https://youtu.be/yw3SRqNYPeg?feature=shared
U14 Boys’ Team
The Doylestown Rugby Academy U14 Boys’ Team kicked off their 2025 Rugby Season with a preseason game against the Montgomery-Bucks Youth Rugby Team. The Young Dragons played the Montgomery-Bucks Rugby Team in the RugbyPA semi-finals last year and there would be many comparisons in Sunday’s match to this past spring’s semi-final barnburner. Doylestown ran out to an early lead with a try from newcomer, Brady McReynolds. The conversion kick was no good, so Doylestown held on to a 5-0 lead. Just before halftime, Mongomery-Bucks notched a try for themselves, but made their conversion kick. This gave Montgomery-Bucks a 7-5 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, newcomer, Shane McCuen, dove over the try zone next, putting the Young Dragons back into the lead by a score of 10 – 8. However, once again, Montgomery-Bucks would not be denied with a late-game try. This put Montgomery-Bucks up, 12-10. After several penalties later and with the clock running out, the Young Dragons found themselves with a penalty and a chance to win the game. Very similar to last year’s semi-final, the Young Dragons passed the ball out to Shane McCuen, who once again dashed to the corner of the field to slam home the winning try of the game. The final score was 15-12, a won for the Young Dragons. Try scorers were Shane McCuen (2) and Brady McReynolds (1). Montgomery-Bucks had 2 trys and one conversion. Doylestown U14 will travel to Morristown, NJ on March 23 to play the Morris Youth Rugby Team Sunday.
Match Film: https://youtu.be/NrKPW5r_nbM?feature=shared
For more information about Doylestown Rugby Football Club, go to www.doylestownrugby.com
