I Kid You Not: VC Avengers Take Second In Escondido Rugby Tournament

(story by Ben Everett, photos by Teresa Everett)

The Valley Center Avengers
Back row (left to right): Coach Dale Turori, Caleb Segina, Chris Turori, Erik Brinkman, John Turori, Alex Carr, Lance Armstrong. Front row: Ben Everett, Jason Throop, Jake Jennings, Garret Fiehler, coach George Turori

Saturday was a triumphant send-off for the Valley Center Avengers, as our town’s recently assembled Under 19 rugby team compiled a 3–1 record en route to a second place finish at their final tournament of the season.
The Escondido competition, which was the third such event in team history, provided an opportunity for the Avengers to showcase their marked improvement since finishing two previous summer tourneys with a combined record of 2–4.
Valley Center’s performance proved especially encouraging, considering that nearly the entire team had first picked up a rugby ball not six weeks ago, and all are young enough to return next year for what promises to be a rousing season of rugby sevens.
Because the traditional and more easily recognizable form of rugby, which is a bruising game involving 15 players per team and plenty of physicality to complement the sport’s finesse, takes place during the winter or spring, summer is an off-season of sorts among the rugby community.
To fill the void, rugby sevens was created, an offshoot which retains all of rugby’s basic principles, but features only seven players playing seven-minute halves on a pitch larger than a football field, which naturally makes for a fast-paced, fluid game.
On Saturday, the Avengers opened the action against the Del Mar Heights Mustangs, a team whom they had seen excel at various tournaments but had never themselves played. The game began well enough for Valley Center, who received the opening kickoff and, one pass and several broken tackles later, saw captain John Turori score the day’s first try (rugby’s method of scoring, nearly equivalent to a touchdown in both point value and basic concept). The Avengers added to their advantage later in the half when Turori once again collected a pass near the sideline and, with a hop, skip, and a stiff arm, was across the try line for another score. Not surprisingly, the Mustangs showed themselves unwilling to go down quietly by beginning a penetrating drive through the heart of Valley Center’s defense just before the break and bringing the deficit down to seven. Their momentum continued to build just after the opening whistle of the second period, when a Del Mar player turned the corner on an Avenger and sprinted 50 yards for the equalizing try. Although Valley Center looked to be the better team, a disappointing loss loomed on the horizon until a stellar display of selfless ball movement and a patient, persistent attack led to Alex Carr sprinting past three desperate Mustang defenders on his way to the go ahead try. The seven point lead proved to be plenty for Valley Center, whose re-energized defense stifled any opposing scoring efforts for the remaining minutes and allowed the Avengers to walk away with a 21-14 victory.
Having begun the day on a high note, Valley Center turned their attention to their next opponent, the San Pasqual Barbarians, the tournament hosts and a squad with many ties to the Avengers. What with the many friendships and shared jerseys, the game was almost nothing more than a high-stakes scrimmage, epitomizing the sportsmanship and camaraderie which is perhaps rugby’s most essential element. After volunteering to wear their uniforms inside-out, Valley Center took the field and immediately made their presence felt, taking an early lead on Ben Everett’s breakaway down the sideline. While the Avengers’ defense remained strong, an injury towards the middle of the half left them undermanned on the outside, where a Barbarian ballcarrier found a path to the try zone and seven valuable points. The game would not stay tied for long, though, because the ensuing kickoff fell straight into the waiting hands of John Turori, who booted the ball back upfield, sprinted past San Pasqual’s defenders, and grabbed it again for a try (while you cannot pass the ball forwards in rugby, kicking in any direction is allowed, and often taken advantage of by the soccer-happy Avengers). Once again, the Barbarians would answer back, as a rare defensive mistake on the part of Valley Center and a bit of luck allowed them to tie the game up before halftime.
That try would prove to be San Pasqual’s last, but the Avengers needed only a minute to leave their mark on the second half, taking the lead for the final time when Scott Bergquist stole possession from an opponent’s lineout (akin to soccer’s throw-in) and singlehandedly powered his way across the try line. The rest of the game gave way alternatively to sloppy offense and exemplary defense from both sides, but in the end, Valley Center’s scrappy intensity was enough to secure the win for them, 17-10. The Avengers knew, however, that they would need to be nearly perfect to beat their next opponent, the Santa Clarita Tigers.
The Tigers were a team equally blessed with physicality and experience, and who had thoroughly dominated an Ocean Beach tournament last Saturday in which Valley Center finished squarely in the middle. While it was heartening to see just how much the Avengers had improved since then, their prospects looked bleak against a team who had at least quadrupled their opponents’ score in each of their other four games while resting their starters in the second half. Nevertheless, Valley Center entered the game with high hopes and, perhaps to everyone’s surprise but their own, dominated possession for most of the first half. Their momentum came to an abrupt halt, however, when an apparent try was called back on account of the referee neglecting to award the Avengers advantage– leeway to continue play even after the opponent has committed a foul if it benefits your team. The call gave the Tigers the respite needed to return to top form, and the remainder of the first half played out as a thoroughly entertaining display of rugby between two evenly matched teams, which, regardless of the final result, was success enough for the young and inexperienced Valley Center side. The period turned out to be less successful on paper, unfortunately, as Santa Clarita managed to sneak in a try in the half’s waning seconds, leaving the Avengers with a 7-0 deficit to overcome in the final seven minutes.
That deficit had Valley Center hoping for a sudden spark of offense, but the second half picked up where its predecessor left off- plenty of flashy running, efficient passing, and hard-nosed defense, but little progress down the field for either team. The familiarity continued to haunt Valley Center when the period’s turning point again came in the form of a referee’s error- one of two such mistakes in an otherwise very well-officiated game. The fateful play began when John Turori sent a kick downfield, but was beat to the ball by a Santa Clarita defender. Sensing Turori’s impending approach, the Tiger booted the ball out of play behind his own try zone (the namesake and contemporary of football’s end zone). Because he was clearly outside his try zone at the time, the correct restart would have involved a Valley Center scrum five meters from Santa Clarita’s try line (best resembling a face-off in hockey, scrums are how the game is restarted after certain penalties, and consist of three players from either team attempting to push the opposing side off the ball, which is rolled into the middle of the scrum by a player whose team did not commit the infraction). Whether by faulty vision or a misunderstanding of the rules, the referee instead awarded the Tigers complete possession 22 meters from their try line, an action which should have been taken only if the player had been inside his try zone when he cleared the ball. While the Avengers assembled for a scrum, Santa Clarita quickly began play on the opposite side of the field, where they enjoyed a four on one breakaway and scored the try which would ice the game away. Valley Center used the play as fuel for a renewed and relentless attack, but the Tigers’ 14 point lead permitted them to focus entirely on defense, and despite their opponents’ best efforts, they allowed only a late score from Alex Carr. Following on the heels of several near-breakaways and enough hustle to satisfy a legion of coaches, the try was certainly well-earned, but it was not enough to prevent a 5-14 loss. It was a game whose entire story cannot be told by its final score, however, and the Avengers left the field with their heads held high, satisfied with their level of play and with the tantalizing possibility of what may have been were it not for several costly mishaps.
If Valley Center’s last opponent had been the Yankees, their fourth and final game came against what might be called the Bad News Bears. The La Quinta Outlaws out of Palm Springs had fielded a team much younger and less battle-tested than even the Avengers, and, while truly not lacking in talent or tenacity, entered their match against Valley Center having lost their previous four games by hefty margins. The Avengers opened the scoring less than a minute into the game, when Jason Throop dashed around the end of La Quinta’s defense for his first try of the day. Valley Center, intent to put the game away early, quickly followed with another try from John Turori, whose vicious stiff arms had left him with only one good shoulder, but still remained nearly unstoppable. The Outlaws took the kickoff and began to assert themselves, holding possession for much of the remainder of the half and advancing within yards of Valley Center’s try zone. The attacks provided no tangible results for La Quinta, however, and the Avengers soon took back control of the game and ended the half with a try from Scott Bergquist straight through the middle of the field.
Valley Center’s dominance continued through the second half, as a series of punishing runs off of the opening kick advanced the ball within spitting distance of La Quinta’s try zone, where Bergquist soon scored his second try of the game. Their 28 point lead began to take the spring out of the Avengers’ step, as those things tend to do, and the opportunistic Outlaws responded with two quick tries to cut the lead in half and add a touch of suspense to the game. The drama, as might be suspected, was done away with in short notice by Valley Center, who regained their focus and once again saw Jason Throop outstrip every La Quinta defender behind him to score the tournament’s final try. The Avengers’ 35-14 lead was held until the final whistle, which, as the competition featured no bracket-style finals, made Valley Center’s second place finish official.
It was a fitting end to a season for the Avengers, whose improvement from week to week and even from game to game was visible throughout the day. While they did not win the tournament, their lofty finish put the team emphatically on the radar of every youth rugby club in San Diego who must contend with an older, adepter Valley Center squad during next year’s season. The team will first look to this winter, however, when the traditional rugby season begins and players, parents, and coaches hope to have begun our very own high school aged club. If you are interested in becoming a part of this exciting venture, or simply want to give the sport a try, coach George Turori and the rest of the Avengers will be holding free clinics throughout the fall to garner interest for the team and introduce young Valley Center athletes to the wonders of rugby. Look to future editions of The Roadrunner for more information.

John Turori fends off a tackler: