Black and Blue whip Missoula Mud Dogs

Black and Blue rugby lived up to its name on Thursday at Evergreen Junior High, bullying Missoula in a 47-7 rout in its first of two home games this season.

The Black and Blue didn’t take long to show superiority. The team scored four tries in the first 20 minutes of the contest, each more impressive than the last.

Senior left wing Austin Foucher scored the first try on a pitch from Brenden Windauer at midfield, breaking through a tackle and running past another defender to touch the first score of the game. He scored the second try just minutes later, sprinting 75 yards up the left sideline to outrun the entire Mud Dogs team to give the Black and Blue a 14-0 lead.

The local club piled on two more tries before half, the third of the game coming after an interception deep in the Missoula half was pitched to senior outside center Blaine Newman for a quick score.

Newman added another minutes later after juking two Mud Dog defenders and running 75 yards past the rest of them to give the Black and Blue a 28-0 lead at half.

“That definitely set some sparks,” Windauer said.

“We’ve got so many different factors. We’ve got kids that stay back that come out of nowhere and then you’ve got kids like Blaine, who’s always got some wheels.”

It was Windauer himself who showed his wheels 10 minutes into the second half, splitting five Missoula players to score a try from 65 yards out. Riley Liegh powered through a crowd minutes later to give the Black and Blue a 40-0 lead before Newman capped their scoring with his third try of the game.

Missoula was held off the board until the fleeting seconds, touching a try with time running out to end the shutout.

“The team played awesome,” Windauer said.

“This is the first time we’ve connected really good. We’re a young team (but) we’ve developed a team that can work together. We mess up quite a bit, but now that we’re getting used to rugby. You can see it breaking through. It’s nice.”

The Black and Blue stay home next week for the last game of the regular season. They host Frenchtown in Evergreen on May 3 before taking a week off to prepare for the MYRA state tournament in Corvallis.