Harrisburg Rugby Club History






Test Click on year to link annual history. 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 1969 The Harrisburg Rugby Club was founded in the fall of 1969. The first match was against Wheeling West Virginia, the home club of match secretary Charlie Davis. The team’s captain was Princeton Alumni Bill Jennings, and the scrum captain was Dickinson College professor Joe Staggers. Other founders were President Allen Buggs from George Washington who worked for IBM, Joe Byers, a high school teacher from Penn State, and Jim Harmon who went to the Carlisle Army War College after graduating from West Point. (Back to Top) 1972 After the first year Dr. John Reidell became the club President and was honored with the first club lifetime membership. In addition the annual club MVP award bears his name. He is presently head of surgery at Centre County Community General. During this formation period a former Rugby League player, Ken Kershaw, was instrumental in acquiring John Williams, the Welsh Junior Coach, to visit the Harrisburg Club. His coaching served the club well when they hosted Drogheda, Ireland. Harrisburg lost the game by a close margin at the Cedar Cliff High stadium on October 18, 1972. The Irish visited the Midstate for four days with game proceeds going to benefit the Harrisburg Flood Relief Fund. (Back to Top) 1973 In the spring of 1973 under the presidency of Ed Smart, the inaugural Harrisburg Rugby Invitational Tournament was held at the Hershey Medical Center Field. The tournament was inspired by suggestions from the visiting Irish side and was won by Harrisburg. (Back to Top) The fall of 1973 brought Welsh under 19’s coach Don Devereux to visit. This led Harrisburg to the EPRU semi-finals of the "knock-out cup" , under full-time coach Brian Lloyd. Lloyd became Harrisburg’s second honorary lifetime member. 1974 During the 1970’s the club was led by President’s Brad Miller, Bill Trethaway and finally Bill Pagats, who still remains. During this period Harrisburg traveled on tour to the Detroit-Windsor Ontario Canada Borderer’s tournament each Labor Day weekend. The club continued to grow and held its first annual Christmas Award’s Banquet in 1974 at Schindlers. (Back to Top) 1975 In the spring of 1975 the club had enough players to play 5 "C" games and in 1977 made it to the EPRU "knock-out cup" semi-final losing to Bethlehem 4-28. Also in this season Harrisburg was able to boast its first EPRU All-Star select side player, Flanker Ed Smart. (Back to Top) 1978 In the spring of 1978 the club won their first trophy taking third place at the Wilkes Barre Cherry Tournament and that fall had their highest finish at the Borderer’s Tournament making it to the semi-finals in the losers bracket. Harrisburg also has two EPRU All-Stars’, Prop Lenny Snyder and Fullback Chad Keck. Later that fall Harrisburg embarked to the Bahamas in November on a tour to play the Freeport side. (Back to Top) 1979 was very active with Harrisburg winning the Singing Trophy at the Buffalo Valley/ Bucknell Pennsylvania Classic; hosting the Mid-Atlantic Men’s Club Championships; attending the Monmouth New Jersey Tournament; and hosting a touring side from Camberly, England. (Back to Top) 1980 The 1980’s opened with a third place at the Pennsylvania Classic and continued with the "B" team winning their division of the EPRU. 1980 also brought the second tour to Freeport, Bahamas, and a club record of drinking 34 half kegs in the fall. (Back to Top) 1981 During the spring of 1981 the team finished runner-up at the Pennsylvania Classic and that fall built the baseball dugouts for Penn State Capitol Campus. In the Spring of 1983 the club hosted the first of four Annual Hog Roasts. In 1984 Duane Pelletier established the club try record of 14 in the spring; 19 trys for the year and the point record of 86 points in the fall. This effort led to an undefeated Fall EPRU Division Season. Harrisburg also finished third at the Carlisle Gaelic Tournament (trophy was misspelled), donated $400.00 to Penn State Capitol Campus, and sent four players to the Keystone State Games; Ron Rash, Glenn Williams, Wade Edris and Ron Luenberger. (Back to Top) 1987 the inaugural Harrisburg Rugby Sevens Tournament was held at the Middletown Pitch. The Fall of 1988 brought the third tour to Freeport, Bahamas. (Back to Top) 1989 fall, Harrisburg began their win streak with nine in a row, out scoring their opponents 272 to 49. This led to a Division III championship and move up to Division II. The Spring of 1990 was an undefeated season extending the regular season winning streak to 16 in a row. Tournaments that Spring included the Virginia Commonwealth Cup; a second place in the consolation division at the Dead Ants Tournament, Batavia, N.Y.; and a fourth place finish at the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament. (Back to Top) 1990 fall proved Harrisburg’s strength with another undefeated season capping off an undefeated year with 17 wins. The team scored a club record 336 points in the Fall led by Mark Nuttall’s individual team record 238 points and Bill Bennett’s 15 trys. Harrisburg defeated Western Suburbs for the Division II Mid-Atlantic Championship. The record season was accentuated with the fourth tour to Freeport, Bahamas where the hosts were shocked by a 6-6 tie. Harrisburg continued its Division II march to Orlando, Florida with a 27-4 semi-final win over Battleship of Mobile, Alabama. In the finals Harrisburg lost a close 9-20 match to Amoskeag of Manchester, New Hampshire, finishing as Eastern US Rugby Union Runner-Ups. (Back to Top) 1991 saw the team continue its win streak to a total of 36 wins in a row. That year Harrisburg took a third at the Batavia New York Dead Ants Tournament and a second at the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament. The team was lead by Tony Trost’s 14 trys. An honorary membership was given to Hal Risser for his efforts with sevens facilities set up. (Back to Top) 1992 Harrisburg won the Carlisle Old Gaelic Classic, and the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament. In 1993 Harrisburg wins the Plate Championship at Carlisle Old Gaelic and also Severn River Sevens and placed fourth in the Harrisburg Sevens. After sixteen years as Treasurer of Harrisburg Rugby, Mike Bressi is awarded an honorary life time membership to the club. (Back to Top) 1994 spring Harrisburg hosted the United Kingdom Insurance Offices Rugby Club playing on City Island and losing 10-34. (Back to Top) 1995 the sevens team wins the Bryn Mawr Cup at Second City and places fourth at the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament. The fifteen's side wins the bowl at the Lancaster Amishland Tournament and sent Larry Sweger to play flanker at the EPRU select side All-Stars. (Back to Top) 1996 Harrisburg ties for second in Division II, and travels to the We Love Erie Days Tournament in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Baton Rouge Mardis Gras Tournament in Louisiana, not to mention the Carlisle Old Gaelic Classic. In the fall Season Harrisburg was led by Jeremy Beacher’s 108 point season, the third highest in Harrisburg history. Jim McGovern was given an honorary life time membership for his 19 years as match secretary. (Back to Top) 1997 begins a new era as the team moves to downtown Harrisburg with the Pep Grill becoming the teams main sponsor, to show our appreciation the club donates their time and paints the exterior of the club. The summer of 1997 brings a seventh place at the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament and a third at Second City’s Bryn Mawr Cup. In the fall Harrisburg traveled to Erie to bring home the trophy for the Championship at the Erie Day’s Tournament. In EPRU Divisional West Play, Harrisburg placed second and qualified for the Mid-Atlantic MARFU Divisional Championships. (Back to Top) 1998 fall begins with the third place trophy at Erie Day’s Tournament, and is capped with a third place finish at the MARFU Division III Championship at Frederick Maryland. The summer Seven’s Season brought a Championship trophy at the Bethlehem Seven’s in the Social Division and the plate Championship at the Harrisburg Seven’s Tournament. The first HOBOS (Harrisburg Old Boys Occasional Side) Picnic was held and volunteers plucked Ducks at KIPONA to raise money for the March Of Dimes. Team scoring was lead by Jeremy Beacher’s 186 points (second highest), while Harrisburg becomes the EPRU West Champions qualifying the team for the MARFU playoffs under head coach Dennis Shade. (Back to Top) 1999 spring adds to Harrisburg’s scoring record as Bob Rhubright takes second in the season trys with 12, followed by Larry Sweger in third with 10 trys. Jeremy Beacher tied for second in total points with 125 for the fall season. The team finished Fourth at the MARFU Division III Championships at Media and sixth at the Carlisle Old Gaelic Classic.( The summer of 1999 started out with a visit to the Boddington/North Penn's Tournament. Harrisburg made a respectable showing by making it to the semi-final game before bowing out in a close game with the Caribbean Cougars, 14-19. Fall of 1999 started out by Harrisburg going undefeated in conference games. Then came a World Cup Tour to Ireland with visits in Dublin, Port Arlington, and New Castle West. We had the opportunity to play Port Arlington, New castle West, and the University of Limmerick. We saw the games of Romania vs USA, Ireland vs Australia, and Australia vs USA. It was a time filled with many memories. Upon returning to Harrisburg, we played 3 playoff games, beating Wilmington and Reading and then losing in the championship game to Schuylkill River. (Back to Top) 2000 spring brought the Westmoreland Tournament in Pittsburgh, where the team went 3 and 0, but did not qualify for the championship game. Figure that one out, true story??? Then came open play, followed by MARFU championships. the team finished a disappointing 6 place, losing to Virginia Beach and PCOM, but beating Carlisle. Then came more open play, followed by the Carlisle Tournaments. The team did well making the championship game, before bowing out to Brandywine. The summer of 2000, the Harrisburg 7's team made tournament appearances at Boddington(North Penn), Bethlehem, Brawn Mawr(2nd City Troop) , and Harrisburg. The summer highlight was a championship appearance at the Boddington tournament, which resulted in an overtime lost to Reading. The fall of 2000 brought on the challenge of Division 2 play. The team went 3 and 5 overall with a 2 and 5 in division play with wins over Doylestown and 2nd City Troop. Although, not a successful season filled with victories, the team proved they belonged in Division 2. The new players, such as Mike Archbold(set a new team record with 23 tries in 2000), Brian Brucher, Eric Jones, Steve Baker, Steve Stewart, Justin Prudhomme, Andy Briggs, Tom Murphy, Steve Croshere, Ken"JR" Hill, and Justin Jacobson show Harrisburg a rugby team on the way up in Division 2. (Back to Top) 2004 In the Spring of 2004, Harrisburg once again qualified for Division III MARFU playoffs. Before the playoffs could begin, Harrisburg played 4 friendly matches. HRFC lost the first two matches of the Spring to Division II teams North Penn and then South Jersey (on the now infamous “sheparding” call with seconds left). Harrisburg then hit its stride beating South Pittsburgh and then Second City in the final test before playoffs. Harrisburg then traveled to Newport News for MARFU playoffs to face Happy Valley in the 1^st round. Harrisburg played a tough game, but didn’t have enough in the end, losing 10-21. In the consolation bracket, played later that afternoon, Harrisburg rebounded with a 14-7 win over Virginia. The 5^th place game would be played the next morning. Unfortunately, Harrisburg may have stayed out a bit too late the previous night taking in all the town had to offer, and laid an egg in the Sunday morning game against Blacksburg, losing 8-24. Harrisburg finished the Spring season strong, winning the final two friendly matches over Greensburg (42-22) and North Bay (32-26), ending the Spring season with a 5-4 record. The Fall of 2004 brought high hopes for the Harrisburg team. There was a good blend of solid veterans and some fresh new faces eager to prove they belonged. Harrisburg opened EPRU D-III league play with a convincing 33-12 victory of Wharton. Next up was arch-rival Old Gaelic. The result was not favorable, with Harrisburg ending up on the wrong side of a 16-31 defeat. That loss rallied the men, who reeled off five straight victories over Widener, PCOM, Wilkes-Barre, Whitehorse, and Dickinson. HRFC finished the fall season with a stellar 6-1 league record and once again earned a birth into the MARFU playoffs in the Spring. 2004 Award Winners: MVP – Jamie Forbes; Team Contributor – W.A. Pagats; Most Improved – Grant Walter; Rookie of the Year – Ed Baker; Most Games Played – Cobi Kepner; Iron Man – Sweger, Scheidemann, Walter, Vazquez 2005 The Spring of 2005 started of with a home game against Severn River, played in miserable conditions. The temperature was in the 40’s and the rain was pouring down. Harrisburg ended up losing 7-20 in a game the backs touched the ball maybe once to twice. Harrisburg followed up that loss with two big victories in the MARFU warmup matches. North Bay was defeated 60-13 and the following weekend Harrisburg knocked off D-II Reading 37-22. HRFC then traveled to State College where the MARFU tournament was taking place. First up for Harrisburg was Newport News. Harrisburg ended up winning only 10-5 in a game in which Harrisburg dominated possession but couldn’t pull away. In the second round, HRFC played the hosts, Happy Valley. Harrisburg ended up losing 7-20 against a quality HV squad. In the consolation game the next morning, Harrisburg played Carlisle. Harrisburg lost 0-25 in a game in which many players were injured and couldn’t compete. The next weekend brought a trip to Wilmington, with Harrisburg losing a tight 5-12 game. The Spring ended with a trip to the North Bay Cup, where Harrisburg lost to Reading, then defeated the Renegades and Quantico. HRFC finished the Spring season with a 5-5 record. The Fall of 2005 brought about a much stronger EPRU D-III field, with 2^nd City and North Penn dropping down from D-II and the law schools (Wharton, Widener, Dickinson) dropping out of D-III. Harrisburg opened the season with a trip to North Penn, and gave the hosts a rough welcome to D-III rugby, beating them 32-25. Next up was 2^nd City, who handed Harrisburg their first league loss 18-27. HRFC then defeated Wilkes-Barre -who are always tough at home- 12-7. Rivals Old Gaelic came to town the following weekend, handing Harrisburg their second loss 14-27. Harrisburg finished league play by dominating PCOM (43-7) and Whitehorse (54-7) to finish the season 4-2. Unfortunately for Harrisburg, only the top two teams (Old Gaelic, 2^nd City) qualified for MARFU playoffs. 2005 Award Winners: MVP – Grant Walter; Team Contributor – Greg Ball; Most Improved – Justin Piro; Rookie of the Year – Roland Acevedo; Most Games Played – Scott Strelec; Iron Man – Piro, Anwar, Rutt, Strelec, Sweger 2006 Harrisburg entered the Spring of 2006 having not qualified for MARFU playoffs, ending a two year streak. Harrisburg kicked off the Spring season hosting the newly formed Jersey Shore Sharks. HRFC prevailed 34-0 in the contest. The next match, against D-II power Lancaster would not be so easy. The weather was not kind, as HRFC donned their long-sleeves to brave the cold, wet, and windy weather at Lancaster. Lancaster controlled the game, winning 0-20. Noah Mumma made his first post-college appear for Harrisburg in the Lancaster game. A trip to DC to play another D-II team, the Washington Irish, followed the Lancaster game. This trip also marked the first (and last) appearance of the Official HRFC Tour Bus (aka Eurovan). Harrisburg played tough, but ended up losing to the hosts 6-34. Harrisburg hosted North Bay the next weekend. Harrisburg released their pent up frustrations from the previous two matches and throttled North Bay 90-5. The Spring season ended with a trip south for the North Bay Cup. Harrisburg was fired up to play, but not as much as the Eurovan, which burst into flames on the way down. Luckily everyone escaped injury, and only memories of the Washington trip remained (although some of us barley remember that trip home). After packing everyone in the remaining vehicles, Harrisburg had a good showing at the tournament. North Bay was defeated 39-0 in the opening round. Next up was Montclair, a tough D-II from Jersey. Harrisburg gave them all they could handle, but in the end it wasn’t enough as Montclair won 21-12. HRFC defeated Pax River 35-17 in the final match of the day. Though Harrisburg finished the season a disappointing 4-3, the Spring proved that HRFC was an up and coming team, and its best play was yet to come. The Fall of 2006 brought with it high hopes for the club. Harrisburg was on a mission after sitting out the playoffs the previous Spring. Two more teams joined the EPRU D-III table this season, Lehigh Valley (from D-DII) and Jersey Shore. Harrisburg opened the season with a trip to Western Suburbs for a friendly match. Harrisburg won a tough game 27-20 to get the season started off on the right foot. The next weekend Harrisburg opened up league play with a game at Whitehorse. Harrisburg wasted numerous chances inside their opponents 22, and could only muster a 5-5 tie, a very disappointing result. Next up was a trip to Lehigh Valley. Harrisburg was expecting a tough game from Lehigh, who play in D-II the season before. But Lehigh could not keep pace with Harrisburg, as the club got their first league win of the season 25-0. Harrisburg hosted Wilkes-Barre the next week, and continued their strong play, winning 28-5. Arch-nemesis Old Gaelic was the next opponent. Harrisburg was down early, at one point behind 17-7 in the second half. But Harrisburg never gave up, and scored two tries in the last 10 minutes to defeat the hosts 21-17. Unfortunately the high from winning that game was short lived. HRFC Coach Dennis Shade passed away that night in his home. Dennis was truly a huge part of Harrisburg Rugby, and a great ambassador of the club and the sport. The rest of the season was dedicated to Coach Shade, and the team wore black arm bands during the games in his memory. HRFC played PCOM in the next game. Harrisburg came out pumped up and dismantled PCOM 39-0 to remain unbeaten in league play. The next two game were Jersey Shore and North Penn. Harrisburg had no trouble winning either one, beating Jersey Shore 51-0 and North Penn 34-11. The final league game against 2^nd City was huge. A Harrisburg win would clinch the EPRU title for the first time in many seasons. The game started out tight, with 2^nd City keeping it tight and pounding with the pack. The Harrisburg defense was up to the challenge though, and stuffed the runners time and time again. Eventually Harrisburg’s pack wore the opponents out, and Harrisburg dominated possession. HRFC eventually won a hard fought match 27-7 to win the EPRU D-III title, and with it the #1 seed in MARFU palyoffs. Immediately after the game, everyone dispersed to hustle up and get ready for the Sweger nuptials, which took place an hour after the final whistle. Harrisburg finished the record breaking season with an 8-0-1 record. 2006 Award Winners: MVP – Zach Khuri; Team Contributor – Greg Ball; Most Improved – Andy Vazquez; Rookie of the Year – Dallas Kirk; Most Games Played – Rutt, Scheidemann, Strelec; Iron Man – Rhubright, Rutt, Scheidemann, Strelec 2007 To once again honor Coach Shade, the club created the Dennis Shade Memorial Cup, to be played annually on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Harrisburg and Old Gaelic played the inaugural match at William Penn High School. The temperature was in the 40’s, and below a thin layer of mud and grass was frozen dirt. The first 30 minute period was played to a 7-7 draw. Old Gaelic won the second period 21-0. No score was kept in the third period. Harrisburg had two more warm-up matches before the playoffs began. Harrisburg traveled to North Bay for the Mud Bowl. In field condition with at least 2 inches of mud and not a blade of grass to be found, the teams tied 8-8. The following weekend was a long trip to North jersey to play Morris, a good D-II team who would provide a good test before the playoffs. Harrisburg started off slowly, maybe due to the long trip. HRFC found themselves down 21-0 at the half. Harrisburg realized they were just as good as Morris, and refocused for the 2^nd half. Harrisburg scored 15 unanswered points, but fell just shy, losing 15-21. As the #1 seed in the playoffs, Harrisburg hosted #8 Happy Valley in the first round. Happy Valley had knocked Harrisburg out of the playoffs the last two times, and Harrisburg was seeking revenge. The visitors stood no chance, as the Harrisburg defense stepped up big time. Harrisburg won convincingly 20-0, setting the stage for MARFU semifinals to be hosted by Carlisle the next weekend. Harrisburg drew #4 Virginia in the semifinal. Harrisburg jumped out to an early 15-0 lead, but was cut to 15-3 at the half. Harrisburg played tentatively in the second half, content to sit on their lead. Unfortunately Virginia got within 15-13 with under 5 minutes to play. As time wound down, Virginia attempted a drop kick the barely missed the right upright, and the final whistle blew shortly after that, as Harrisburg celebrated a 15-13 victory and a birth in the MARFU finals against Old Gaelic, who defeated Blacksburg in the other semifinal. In the final Harrisburg once again got off to a hot start, scoring the first 16 points of the game from a Zach try and 3 penalties. Old Gaelic would not go down easily though, as the hosts fought back with two second half tries to close with 2 points. Once again the game came down to a drop kick attempt by Old Gaelic. The kick barely got as high as the crossbar and went harmlessly through the back of the try zone as the ref blew the final whistle. Harrisburg won their first MARFU championship since 1990. Harrisburg would play at nationals in three weeks in South Carolina. Harrisburg played two lackluster warmup matches before the long trip south, losing to Reading and defeating Lehigh Valley. HRFC was the #6 seed in the USA Rugby tournament, and took on #3 seed Gainesville in the first round. Harrisburg got on the board first with an unconverted try by Zach, and that was the only score of the first half. In the second half Harrisburg scored the first two tries (Cook, Sweger) to go up 17-0. After a Gainesville try, Harrisburg closed out the scoring with the final try of the game scored by Zach again, making the final score 22-5. In the semifinals, Harrisburg played Boston Irish. Boston scored first with back-to-back penalty kicks. Harrisburg missed two of their own in that span. Boston finally broke through the HRFC defense before halftime, converting the try to make it 13-0 at the break. In the second half Harrisburg stepped up their game. Harrisburg gained possession inside Boston’s 22, but a pass to the wing just missed, and Boston got the turnover. Later in the half Harrisburg found themselves on Boston’s tryline, and after several attempts looked to cash in. It was not meant to be however, as the ref was on the wrong side of the wrong and didn’t see the try. Another turnover led to Boston’s final try, and a 0-23 defeat for Harrisburg. Boston went on to defeat Mission in the finals, meaning Harrisburg finished the Spring as the #3 team in the nation in D-III. With almost all the players returning, Harrisburg has a very bright future and high hopes for the upcoming fall season.