Photo By Spc. Sharla Lewis | Capt. Jake Kerr, the commander of E Troop, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, is...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – In their last home game of the season, the Fort Hood Rugby Football Club played against a local Samoan rugby team to a 22-15 win.
The Fort Hood team was established in 1972 and is currently headed by 1st Lt. Dan Schmidt who is the captain and scrum half for the team. With twice-a-week practices on top of their regular unit physical training schedule, the team boasts large, broad-shouldered props for scrumming and quick, agile wingers for sprinting across the field.
Saturday at Venable Village Elementary School, coolers of cold drinks and dropped tailgates lined the field as the teams warmed up for the game. Bleachers filled and onlookers laid out blankets to cheer for their team.
The game escalated quickly. Within the first 10 minutes, Fort Hood scored a try when 1st Lt. Josh Wright, with 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, gained the ball after a scrum and ran nearly the length of the field.
“When Wright ran the ball to score,” 1st Lt. Emery Baughan said, “that was pretty awesome.”
By halftime, many of the men displayed bloody elbows and knees and all were soaked with sweat and gulping water. The game pressed on with little time to catch their breath. Tackle after tackle, scrum after scrum, the men raced toward each other at full force, and in the second half, the Samoan team scored one try before Fort Hood came back with two more.
At the end of the game, both teams served up plates of summer barbecue and exchanged handshakes and high-fives. Schmidt said that though this was his last season to organize the team, many of the members would still be around for years to come.
“We can really put Fort Hood Rugby on the map if we stick to it,” he said.
Though bloodied and battered, the men laughed as they enjoyed their food.
“We want to make the team what it was before the war,” said Schmidt, “which is one of the best in the Army.”
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2012 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 88036 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 125 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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