It's no surprise that top regular season teams Oregon and Central Washington will be playing for the NCRC Championship powered by Serevi but how they got there in blowout semi-final wins is a bit of a surprise. Led by two tries and eight conversions from Josh Bower the Wildcats rolled over Washington 89-0. Ian Wright, Alladin Schirmer, Cameron Marek, and Tyler Corrman each had two tries. For the Huskies it was a disappointing way to end what has been a renaissance season. Look for them to come back next year stronger.
According to Central Washington coach Tony Pacheco he doesn't view his team as favorites heading into the final. "Others can consider us the "heavy favorite" but we don't look at it like that. It is about the 80 minutes on the pitch that matter and our ability to execute. We don't worry about pressure, the student-athletes we have came to Central for opportunities like this."
Take the jump to read more.
Down in Oregon, Brady Harrington was key once again as he scored three tries and kicked five conversions for the Ducks as they beat Washington State 53-3. Oregon is getting hot at just the right time and should be a good match for Central Washington. They are also getting hot just in time for the DI-AA playoffs. The Cougars also had a strong season but will still be disappointed by the finish. They held off solid challenges in the East to make the playoffs.
The final will be held this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Magnuson Park in Seattle. Pacheco is expecting a lot of Oregon. "We expect a physical and athletic side that are very dangerous with ball in hand. The Ducks will punish mistakes with interest. We will need to execute in attack and defense and most importantly look after the ball."
After the game ends there will still be plenty of happenings in the conference. The NCRC Loggers side is scheduled for try-outs in April and May while Central Washington will play the winner of Air Force and Utah at the Varsity Cup regional at UCLA on April 19th. The NCRC is something Pacheco feels has helped his team prepare despite some obstacles."They were matches we needed but it hasn't been a smooth preparation. An unusually long and cold winter forced rescheduling of matches and some pretty brutal match conditions. I am happy with our steady improvement over this half of the season. We have been playing some pretty good rugby at times. Now that we are in April our focus needs to be about putting a full 80 minutes of quality rugby together."