Sycamore, St. Rita vie for Tier 2 title
By Paul LaTour
Sycamore coach Mark Lancaster knew a sure-fire way to get a certain type of football player interested in playing for the Spartans rugby club. The key was finding offensive linemen and getting them to participate in a practice.
Once they saw for themselves how they didn’t have to take a back seat to football’s skill-position players, rugby clicked. That notion appealed to first-year Spartan players Darryl Mayweather and Dan Yunek.
“These bigger guys got to carry the ball for the first time,” Lancaster said. “Then the lights went on and the bells went off. ‘Man, this is fun. I can be a running back.’ It’s kind of like backyard football – everybody gets to be a star.”
The Spartans are hoping to turn that comparison into a reality when they face St. Rita for the iYRA Tier 2 state championship at 2 p.m. Monday at the Chicago Blaze facility in Lemont.
Mayweather and Yunek don’t start for the Spartans, but represent rugby’s potential for prospective players. The club is gaining in popularity in Sycamore, a small town about 70 miles west of Chicago and 40 miles southeast of Rockford.
In its seventh year, the club registered 70 kids in the spring. Lancaster said 37 remain, adding that’s a normal attrition rate. Most of the players had non-traditional sports backgrounds, if they played sports at all.
“Rugby appeals to a lot of kids who don’t fit in other sports, and I’m happy to have them,” Lancaster said. “We have kids who come from track, we stole a few from the marching band and the orchestra, and that’s great too. It’s been very beneficial for us.”
St. Rita has seven National Honor Society members and features six first-year players in the starting lineup. which includes senior Dan Dillon.
Dillon might be better known on campus as class valedictorian and co-winner of the Mr. Mustang Award, which “recognizes … outstanding contribution and commitment to the St. Rita Family in the areas of activities, athletics, service, and leadership,” according to the school’s website. Dillon shared that honor with teammate Roberto Hernandez.
Coach Mike Fleming said he’ll take whoever wants to come out and play for the Mustangs, who are in their third year as a program.
“If you want to come out for the team, you make the team,” said Fleming, adding he doesn’t hold tryouts and doesn’t make cuts. “If you want to play you play. It’s as simple as that.”
Fleming said he always has about five or six players who are trying rugby for the first time. While that seems to make it difficult to find consistency, the Mustangs find it beneficial.
And he said that’s what helps make rugby unique. Not many first-year players will find spots on traditional high school teams like football, basketball or baseball.
“There’s strength in numbers, so if you have a couple guys who haven’t played they’re all learning it together,” Fleming said. “If they make mistakes, they know the other guys will make mistakes. I want them to have fun. As soon as we’re not having fun we’re going to stop doing this.”
Both coaches said their players are having a blast. Sycamore’s Lancaster admitted it helps when the team is as successful as the Spartans have been. Although this is their first appearance in the state championship match, they have played for third place in the previous two seasons.
Getting the chance at the state title has been an eye-opening experience for the Spartans.
“They’re pretty happy and they’re surprised about the number of parents who are really enthused about it,” Lancaster said. “To me, it’s just another rugby game. We’ve got to play well and we’ve got to have fun. If we do those things then we’ll succeed and hopefully the score will work out.”
Rosters
St. Rita Mustangs
Projected starting lineup
1. Nick Schultz
2. Ron Garcia
3. Joe “Hammie” Escamilia
4. Matt Murawski -- captain
5. Tom Sujac
6. Trent Larson
7. Brandyn Cheatham
8. Gonzo Gonzalez
9. Matt Rokita
10 Nick Schumacher
11. Dan Dillon
12. Beau Guinta
13. Nick Robles
14. Adjei Aondai
15. Mark Ladd
Coach – Mike Fleming,
Sycamore Spartans
1 Jordan Haka
2 Alex Calendo
3 Colin Quinn
4 DJ Yunick
5 Darell Mayweathes
6 Victor Bundy
7 Cody Leffelman
8 Beck Ackmann
9 Patrick Armstrong
10 Luke Johnson
11Tim Hall
12 David Lord
13 Joseph Dourhety
14Sam Capello
15 William Kroeger
16 Christian Copple
17 Chase Ramer
18 Nathan Kiesgan
19 Shane Toms
20 Ryan Lollke
21 Andrew Montgomery
22 Will Finn
Coach – Mark Lancaster
