BOULDER (10/8/10) – The Colorado Buffaloes men’s rugby team got up early and never looked back as they defeated the United States Air Force Academy Falcons 44-13 on Friday night at Kittredge Field.Shane Milek led the Buffaloes in scoring with two trys and two penalty kicks while Joey Williams also had two trys in the game. Chris Martin and Brian Garey also found their way across the goal line for trys as well.
Colorado and Air Force squared off a month earlier at the Jackalope Tournament in Wyoming with the Falcons staging a 25-22 comeback victory over the Buffs. However this time around CU was able to hold off the Air Force comeback and keep rolling until the final buzzer.
“I was anticipating [Air Force] to come back real hard and they did in the second half,” said CU head coach Sean Edris. “It was 18-13 and then the dam broke for us. Once we got into our rhythm and once we got into the pattern of play we liked to do, it’s very difficult for teams to stay with us because of our speed.”
It didn’t take long for the Buffs to use that speed as they jumped out to an early lead with Williams and Martin both scoring trys in the first five minutes of the match to give CU the 12-0 advantage. Colorado missed the conversion kick on the second score.
Milek gave the Buffs the 15-0 lead after a penalty kick in the 16th minute but the Falcons answered back with two trys of their own.
Austin Halley scored the first try for Air Force in the 20th minute while Sam Roller scored the second six minutes later to cut the CU lead to 15-10 after both conversion kicks missed wide.
Colorado did add to their score before the end of the half as Milek’s penalty kick went through the uprights as time expired giving the Buffs an 18-10 lead after 40 minutes.Opening the second half, the Falcons came out fast and aggressive but could only get three points on a penalty kick in the 56th minute. The 18-13 score would be as close as the cadets would get as the Buffs finished the game with four unanswered trys.
Williams scored his second of the night in the 65th minute while seven minutes later Garey pounded his way across the goal line to give the Buffs a 30-12 lead. Milek scored the final two trys for Colorado in the 76th and 78th minutes.
Colorado has two games left in their fall schedule with them taking on the Wyoming Cowboys on Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. on the CU Business Field and against rival Colorado State on Oct. 30 at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado.
With the 44-13 victory, Martin said he hopes the momentum and confidence the team gained will continue for the rest of the fall season.
“It was real important for our team to build up some confidence, get a bunch of the guys involved, get some momentum going and hopefully take it against the University of Wyoming next weekend and CSU in two weeks,” Martin said.
Watch postgame interviews with CU head coach Sean Edris and fullback Chris Martin at http://www.youtube.com/cuclubsports
