Blues 7s Season Recap
KC Blues at the Heartland 7s July 10th. Pictured standing, l-r: Coach Scott Kram, Casey Cummings, Connor McDonough, David McDonough, Kenny Scott, Kevin Schwartze, Demetrius Clay (front, l-r): Ernie Moore, Conner Smith, Charlie Morrow, Pete Kowalski, Marty Cummings, Joe D'Agostino
The Blues 2010 Sevens season started out with a lot of promise, hit some bumps along the way, and ended with heartbreak in Denver on July 24th as the Blues again came up just short of a Nationals bid at the final West Qualifier.
Coming into the final event, the Blues sat in 3rd place in the West RFU standings but needed to finish ahead of Aspen to earn the West's 3rd bid to Nationals.
The Blues opened Pool Play against national power Olympic Club, turning in an excellent defensive effort to come out with a 7-0 victory over the Northern California side. In the 2nd round of Pool Play, the Blues drew a physically imposing Denver Barbarians 2nd side that included a number of Barbarians Super League players and former Glendale Raptors 7s players. The Barbarians executed a simple game plan that the faltering Blues struggled to contain: smash it up, blow through the point of contact, retain ball, and smash it up again. The Blues dug a 12-0 hole for themselves through defensive lapses and multiple penalties in the rucks, and never recovered. Turning in their worst performance of the summer against a good team and at the absolute worst time, the Blues lost to the bracket-busting Barbo's 2nd's by a score of 26 - 32 to even out at 1-1 in Pool Play. In the final match in Pool Play, the Blues drew a rematch with a very good Dallas Harlequins side that had already locked up Nationals qualification. Minutes into the game, the Quins opened up a 14-0 lead before the Blues buckeled down their defense. Too little too late however, as the Quins were able to hold off the comeback and the Blues lost 12-19.
Dallas advanced to the semifinals, with Aspen and Denver advancing out of the other Pool. With a 3-team tie at 1-2 in pool play, Olympic Club advanced to the semi-final based on points differential and the Blues bid for the West's 3rd seed at Nationals was lost as Aspen had locked in their points, leaving the Blues to play Albuquerque for 5th place. The Blues almost faltered again, recovering from a late Aardvarks comeback to pull-out a 26-21 win in overtime and finish the season in 4th place in the West, with an overall won-loss record of 24-5 for the summer.
Returning the majority of the core 7s Qualifier roster from 2009, the Club had high hopes for this season as a few new pieces were added to make-up for the loss of 2008 & 2009 mainstays Kelly Mercer & Marshall Lurtz to summer school, and Billy Racule to injury. Returning to the starting line-up for each Qualifier were forwards Kevin Schwartze and Conner Smith, and backs Pete Kowalski, Joe D'Agostino, Ernie Moore, and Kenny Scott. Marty Cummings added experience off the bench, while new addition Connor McDonough made an immediate impact at prop. Charlie Morrow, David McDonough, Casey Cummings, Demetrius Clay, Dan Knapp, and Hunter Ward rounded out the list of very young newcomers who saw Qualifier playing time, who combined with a group of additional youngsters on the Blues 7s Development Side represent a promising future for the 7s program.
A number of players made major sacrifices this summer to represent the Blues 7s side, and a 24-5 won-loss record along with 3 tournament championships and a close miss on Nationals is something the players and Club should be very proud of. Special thanks to 7s Head Coach Scott Kram, assistants Pete Winklebauer and Vince Pastorino, and manager Steve Jackman for their direction and help this summer.
7s Season Recap:
KC Rogues 7s Tournament - 6/5/10 - Kansas City, MO
First Place (5-0 record)
Roster
Jay Allen, Andrew Charlton, Demitrius Clay, Pete Kowalski, Scott Kram, Connor McDonough, David McDonough, Ernie Moore, Sami Rakatia, Grant Russell, Kevin Schwartze, Conner Smith
Parrothead 7s Tournament - 6/12/10 - Tulsa, OK
First Place (5-0 record)
Roster
Kevin Schwartze, Jay Allen, Tia Ralovo, Conner Smith, Pete Kowalski, Sami Rakatia, Joe D'Agostino, Ernie Moore, Kenny Scott, Hunter Ward, Andrew Charlton
River City 7s Tournament - 6/19/10 - Wichita, KS
First Place (5-0 record)
Roster
Kevin Schwartze, Conner Smith, Connor McDonough, David McDonough, Pete Kowalski, Sami Rakatia, Joe D'Agostino, Ernie Moore, Kenny Scott
Blues Development Roster: (2-3 Record)
Danny Capps, Steve Jackman, Matt Hoover, Scott Adamson, Tia Ralovo, Scott Kram, Tom Deitch, Grant Russell, Hunter Ward, Zack Zillner, Dennis Armstrong
Western Qualifier Harlequin Cup 7s - 6/26/10 - Dallas, TX
Third Place (4-1 record)
Roster
Kevin Schwartze, Conner Smith, Ernie Moore, Kenny Scott, Pete Kowalski, Casey Cummings, Marty Cummings, Sami Rakatia, Demetrius Clay, Charlie Morrow
Western Qualifier Heartland 7s - 7/10/10 - Kansas City, MO
Fifth Place (3-2 record)
Roster
Connor McDonough, Conner Smith, Kevin Schwartze, Charlie Morrow, Pete Kowalski, Marty Cummings, Casey Cummings, Joe D'Agostino, David McDonough, Ernie Moore, Kenny Scott, Demetrius Clay
Blues Development Roster (4-1 record):
Jay Allen, Grant Russell, Danny Capps, Dan Knapp, Tom Deitch, Jaron Lankers, Zack Zillner, Hunter Ward, Andrew Charlton
Western Qualifier Sneath Cup 7s - 7/24/10 - Denver, CO
Fifth Place (2-2 record)
Roster
Connor McDonough, Conner Smith, Kevin Schwartze, Charlie Morrow, Dan Knapp, Pete Kowalski, Joe D'Agostino, David McDonough, Ernie Moore, Hunter Ward, Kenny Scott
Final West RFU Standings
1. Denver Barbarians - 18 points (6 points max at all 3 qualifiers)
2. Dallas Harlequins - 8 points (4 points @ Dallas, 4 points @ KC, 0 points @ Denver*)
3. Aspen Gentlemen - 6 points (DNP @ Dallas, 2 points @ KC, 4 points @ Denver)
4. KC Blues - 5 points (2 points @ Dallas, 1 point @ KC, 2 points @ Denver*)
5. KC Rogues - 2 points (1 point @ Dallas, 0 points @ KC, 1 point @ Denver)
* - Dallas forfeited the 3rd/4th match at Denver, thereby forfeiting potential placement points which were then awarded to the next highest teams
The following Western teams played in at least 1 Qualifier but did not earn any points by placing in the Top 4: Albuqurque Aardvarks, Arkansas Gryphons, Austin Blacks, Austin Huns, Dallas Reds, Denver Barbarians 2, San Antonio, Shreveport, St. Louis Bombers, St. Louis Ramblers, University of Nebraska