We'd like to welcome Jon Burchfield to the correspondents fold. He'll be covering the South Independent Rugby Conference for us this spring.
By Jon Burchfield
This week the SIRC saw everything: teams showing their dominance, heated rivalries, upsets, and close calls. In Orlando, the defending national champions showed just why they have that title. The University of Central Florida Knights dominated the University of South Florida scoring 14 tries in an 86-0 blowout. Both UCF and USF are off next week.
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The other South division game saw the upstart Florida International University Golden Panthers upset traditional power Florida State in a 29-19 shocker. FIU was able to prevent the Seminoles from collecting the bonus point for 4 tries. Both FIU and FSU are off ext week as well. Right now the South division is tight with UCF leading with 13 points. Behind them are Florida State with 12, FIU with 10, and USF with 3.
The North division saw Kennesaw State survive a scare from a competitive Memphis squad. The Tigers led at halftime but the Owls were able to fight back and win the shootout 54-46. KSU is off next week while Memphis will host Middle Tennessee State University.
Speaking of MTSU, they renewed their rivalry with Georgia Southern in Statesboro last weekend. For the 2nd week in a row, MTSU was paced by a senior providing a hat trick. This time it was Jamie Phillips leading the Moosemen in scoring as MTSU was able to overcome 3 yellow cards to top the Eagles 34-16. GSU will host Georgia Tech next weekend.
KSU currently leads the North division with 15 points in 3 games. Georgia Southern is currently 2nd at 14 points in 4 games. MTSU has 11 points through 3 games. Memphis is 4th with 6 points and Georgia Tech is 5th having yet to register a point through 4 games.