Doylestown Rugby Football Club News – March 16, 2026
Men’s Team
On Saturday March 14, 2026, the Doylestown Rugby Men’s Team played its first match of the spring season, traveling to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to play a familiar opponent in the Lehigh Valley Hooligans. Having had one week of practice leading up to this game, the Dragons were anxious to knock the rust off and get back on the pitch. The winds up in Lehigh Valley were frigid and unforgiving, making for a challenging day for both teams handling and kicking the ball.
Lehigh Valley opened the scoring, able to spring their wing around the corner for a long try against an unorganized Doylestown defense. The Dragons gained some continuity and kept possession, marching into the Hooligans’ half and repeatedly attacking, resulting in Shannon Pearson punching the ball in for the score from five meters out. Lehigh Valley answered with a try and a conversion, and with five minutes left in the abbreviated half, the Hooligans had the lead 12 – 5. In the last five minutes of the half, Doylestown used their athletic advantage on the wing, known as Andre “Sleepy” Williams. They were able to use some great passing to get the ball wide; the Dragons’ winger would take care of the rest, using his speed, power, and elusiveness for two tries over fifty meters that were easily converted. Doylestown was up 19-12 at halftime.
The second half saw both teams settle into their pattern. It was a much cleaner half, with fewer handling errors and penalties. The scoring looked nearly identical to the first half. The Dragons generated several line breaks which they played quickly off of to produce three tries. Lehigh Valley’s scoring was generated from a handling error and a misplayed kick. The final score was 34-26, with Doylestown being victorious.
Try scorers for Doylestown were Shannon Pearson (1), Andre “Sleepy” Williams (2), Matt Frederick (2), and Brian Kelnhofer (1). Breck Zwanch kicked 2 conversions. The effort of Doylestown’s forward pack is ultimately what won the day for the Dragons.
The Man of the Match was awarded to Shannon Pearson for his hard running, high work rate, and dominating performance on defense. The Hard Hat was awarded to Cooper Abell for his outstanding play in stepping up to fill in at flanker.
High School Boys’ Team
On March 7-8, 2026, the Doylestown Rugby Academy High School Boys’ Team traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina for matches against the Charlotte Cardinals and the Charlotte Tigers who are both ranked in the top 10 in the country, and both competed in Tier 1 at the National Championships last year (2025). Doylestown kicked off on Saturday evening, March 7, against the Cardinals in the stadium at beautiful Queens University. The match was very well played by both sides in the first half. The pace was fast and the contact was tremendous. The Cardinals went into the half with the 23-15 lead. The second half was all Cardinals, as they hit on all cylinders, and Doylestown faded. Hats off to the Cardinals who got stronger as they made substitutions throughout the second half. The final score was a 68-22 victory for the Cardinals.
Link to Cardinals’ Match: https://youtu.be/BVUSg1oy8sY
Doylestown then turned around for a Sunday (March 8) noon kickoff against the Tigers. Doylestown dug deep, even though they were battered and down a few starters. Doylestown made more mistakes than usual due to early season fatigue and soreness from the extremely physical match the night before. The Tigers were fast and strong and organized and committed. However, Doylestown was able to regroup at halftime and repair the game plan in the back line, with certain plays that led to many long tries. Doylestown came off the pitch with a 40-31 victory, but the main accomplishment was not the win, but the feeling of manning up and answering the bell when times were tough.
These two matches in two days will serve Doylestown very well not only in their RubgyPA season, but also at the 2026 National Championships in Indiana Memorial Day weekend. The hospitality exhibited by both the Cardinals and Tigers was top notch, and Doylestown Rugby Academy is extremely grateful.
Try scorers against the Cardinals were Jackson Reilly (2) and Timmy Fuhrmeister (1). Reilly also made one penalty kick and two conversions. Try scorers against the Tigers were Louie Cipollo (3), Aaron Kelly (1), Alex Stukis (1), and Finn Riley (1). Jackson Reilly kicked five conversions.
The Man of the Match was Louie Cipollo (outside center). The Tigers had five trys and three conversions.
U16 Boys’ Team
The Doylestown Rugby Academy U16 Boys’ Team traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina for their first match against the Charlotte Cardinals on Saturday, March 7, 2026. This match was played under the lights at the beautiful Queens University Sports Complex. The U-16 boys ran out of the gates quickly in this match and scored the first two tries of the match. The first try was scored by newcomer, Tyler Cooper, who has been a fantastic off-season addition to the DoylestownU16s. Flyhalf, Jake Beckenhauer, slotted the successful conversion, making the score 7-0 in favor of Doylestown. Just before the halftime whistle, young Brady McReynolds also scored a try under the posts and another successful conversion by Beckenhauer made the score 14-0 in Doylestown’s favor at halftime.
The Charlotte Cardinals woke up in the second half of the match and scored their first try of the match. The subsequent conversion kick was successful, and the game was once again competitive at 14-7. However, two long trys by Doylestown blew the game open for the visiting Dragons. The first long run was by Jonah Khanan, who recently moved his position from center to wing, but had similar results from both positions as Khanan scored a brilliant try in the corner of the try zone. Unfortunately, the conversion kick was unsuccessful. This left the score at 19-7, with Doylestown still leading. The next long run was a fantastic example of athleticism from Finn Riley, who made good on a sixty-five meter scamper for a try! Riley’s efforts extended the Doylestown U16 lead to 24-7. A late game Charlotte Cardinals’ try brought the game to a conclusion. This made the final score of the game 24-14 and a Doylestown U16 win. Try scorers for Doylestown were Tyler Cooper (1), Brady McReynolds (1), Jonah Khana (1), and Finn Riley (1). Jake Bechenhauer kicked two conversions. The Cardinals had two trys and two conversions Doylestown then turned around for a Sunday (March 8, 2026) afternoon kickoff against the Charlotte Tigers at Ballantyne Ridge High School in suburban Charlotte. The Doylestown U16 Dragons had their work cut out for them, as they were playing against an older and more experienced high school B-side team in the form of the Charlotte Tigers’ B-Side. Charlotte proved to be fast, strong, organized, and committed. However, the young U16 Dragons (made up mostly of 9th and 10th graders, with even some 8th grader players!) were still able to keep up with the older Tigers. Doylestown try-scorers included Tyler Cooper, and even a fantastic individual intercept and subsequent fifty meter run from 8th grader, Jameson Meehan, kept the first half score close. Jake Beckenhauer once again slotted two successful conversion kicks to make the halftime score Charlotte Tigers B-Side 15 – Doylestown U16 Dragons 14!
Link to Cardinals’ Match: https://youtu.be/zq8fqhzWnQw
However, as the Doylestown U16s attempted to keep up with the older Charlotte Tigers B-Side, unfortunately the rigors of traveling 10+ hours by bus and then playing the second of two highly competitive games finally caught up with the young Dragons. Much respect should be given to the Charlotte Tigers’ B-Side Team as they tallied another seven tries in the second half of the match to firmly leave their mark for a triumphant win in the end by a score of 47-14. Try scorers for Doylestown were Tyler Cooper (1) and Jameson Meehan (1). Jake Beckenhauer kicked two conversions. The Tigers had nine trys and one conversion.
The hospitality exhibited by both the Cardinals and Tigers was outstanding! These two game experiences are going to help the young U16 Dragons continue to improve as they prepare for their regular season introductory match at Elizabethtown on Sunday, March 22, 2026.
Link to Tigers’ Match: https://youtu.be/sXvGKaTa61E
For more information about Doylestown Rugby Football Club, go to www.doylestownrugby.com