It was a beautiful autumn day in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The Golden Bear faithful were busy filling the hill around the historical, Luckenbill pitch. Everyone was anxious to see the new opponent from Southern Virginia University. The Knights came to play and at the start of the game, everyone could see that they were on point.  From the opening kickoff, they managed to control the majority of possession in the first ten minutes of the contest. They placed Kutztown under a great deal of offensive pressure. They were very dangerous with the ball in hand and found the try zone in the eleventh minute of the game. They presented a fast and powerful back line movement with the help of a few of their back rowers in support. They managed to punch it in and convert in front of the post. SVU 7  KU 0. Both sides moved the ball well for the next twenty minutes, only to have a mishap in the form of a penalty or ball handling error, curtail their progress. Kutztown was extremely snake bitten inside the Knight's red zone. Three times the Golden Bears were knocking on the door, only to get locked out due to their own mishaps. Southern Virginia ramped up the pace at the thirty three minute mark when they once again found pay dirt. Another easy conversion followed and they extended their lead to 14-0. Then with only a minute left to play in the first half, Kutztown's scrum half, Aidan Smith (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) intercepted a pass and raced sixty five yards to touch down under the posts for Kutztown's first score. P.J.O'Reilly slotted a chip shot through the uprights and the Golden Bears went into half time, trailing 14-7. 
 
Then six minutes into the second half, Kutztown's Fly Half, Brock Stinson (Colorado Springs, Colo./Coronado) laid down a few nifty sidesteps to score from twenty yards out. P.J. O'Reilly (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) once again sliced the uprights and the game was tied 14-14. However, the Knights soon showed why they are so dangerous. They proceeded to work their way down field with precision and within two minutes of the Kutztown celebration, they were dotting down in the corner of the try zone. They missed the conversion kick but stormed back into the lead 19-14. Kutztown regained possession a few minutes later and was also clicking on attack. Seven more minutes in, Archie Grayson managed to slip through a gap and streak into the corner of the Knight's try zone, scoring another try for the Golden Bears. The conversion was off the mark and once again, the contest was tied at 19-19. The two sides battled up and down the pitch, both sides bending but not breaking, as they both fought desperately to regain the lead. Then with the scoreboard clock showing seventy one minutes into the contest, Southern Virginia scored and converted to take the lead at 26-19. After the restart, Kutztown regained possession with five minutes left on the clock. Deep in their own territory, they worked their way up the pitch. They fed a ball through the hands to their winger, Logan Bachman (Kutztown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic). The hard charging Bachman ran forty yards down the sideline. Hell bent for leather, he denied every opposing player that tried to bring him down. He was a run away freight train, as he dotted down in the corner. Kutztown could tie up the game, if the reliable P.J. O'Reilly (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) converts the touch line conversion. Unfortunately he missed the mark and Southern Virginia held on to the lead 26 - 24. Kutztown jogged back to their end of the pitch to await the restart. All the time, that clock was ticking. 
 
The Golden Bears pulled in the kickoff and started to methodically work their way up the pitch, but with less then three minutes showing on the scoreboard they had a long way to go. Southern Virginia dug in and reluctantly yielded small chunks of territory. Kutztown was attacking with  avengeance. They had their heart and soul zeroed in on that try line. Then the referee penalized Southern Virginia. The mark was in the middle of the pitch, about thirty eight yards from the try line. The clock was ticking but P.J O'Reilly never hesitated and turned to the referee to inform him that he was going to attempt a penalty kick. The referee nodded in agreement and turned to give the signal that Kutztown had chose to kick for goal. P.J. took his time placing the tee and carefully setting the ball on it as he adjusted the proper angle for his attempt. The clock was running down, the the crowd was silent and P.J. stepped back for one final look at the ball and the uprights. He bowed his head, stepped back and then forward, his boot struck the ball and you could hear it on the sideline. Wack , but oh no, it was a low line drive, Not the high flying centered strike that was P.J.'s trademark. Maybe he picked his head up or slipped slightly when he planted his other foot. Everyone held their breath as all eyes followed the low trajectory of the white ball floating in midair. It seemed to take forever as the lame duck kick approached the goal post and there was a massive sigh and then a mighty roar as the bread of heaven seemed to magically clear the crossbar. Kutztown 27 Southern Virginia 26. In retrospect, those last three minutes of Kutztown rugby, were a magnificent display of  true grit and determination. They pulled a victory out of the jaws of defeat. 
 
Kudos to Southern Virginia, they are a very solid rugby team and were a class act throughout the day. This is the Rugby East and you can look forward to future clashes with these Knights from Southern Virginia and the rest of the excellent teams in the conference. 
RUN WITH THE BEARS !