JACKSONVILLE, FL – The Jacksonville Axemen defeated the Central Florida Warriors 38-14 Saturday (06 August). With this win, the Jacksonville Axemen remain perfect in the 2016 USA Rugby League (USARL) Season.
After winning the game, the Jacksonville Axemen advances to 7-0-0. Because of this victory, Jacksonville hosts the Atlanta Rhinos Saturday in the Southern Conference (SC) USARL Championship.
Due to this loss, the Central Florida Warriors fall to 0-6-1. In fact, the start-of-season 28-28 tie against Atlanta serves as the highlight of the Warriors season. Like the Tampa Mayhem, Central Florida will not play again until 2017.
Jacksonville jumps out to large lead before halftime
In the opening minutes of the game, the Central Florida Warriors scored the first (unconverted) try in Saturday’s contest against the Jacksonville Axemen . However, the Warriors would not hold their lead for long. The Axemen quickly responded with a try and conversion. This resulted in Jacksonville gaining a 6-4 advantage over Central Florida.
Following the go-ahead score, the Axemen soon earned another try. Even though they missed the conversion, the Axemen still built their lead over the Warriors to six. Before the first half ended, Jacksonville tacked on another try to take a 16-4 advantage into halftime.
Axemen lengthen lead over Warriors to win game
Early in the second half, Jacksonville scored and converted a try to take a 22-4 lead over Central Florida. Then, the Warriors responded with a converted try of their own, closing the gap to twelve points.
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However, the Axemen soon scored another try and conversion to lengthen their lead back to 18 points. Central Florida would scored another try, but miss the conversion, briefly trimming Jacksonville’s advantage back to 14.
Prior to the end of the game, Jacksonville would score two more tries and one conversion. With these points, the Axemen brought the final score to Jacksonville 38 – Central Florida 14.
Jacksonville Coach Nicoll talks to RWU after Axemen’s win over Warriors
After his club’s win over Central Florida, Jacksonville Head Coach Ben Nicoll took time to talk with Rugby Wrap Up (RWU):
Nicoll: “As expected, Saturday was another tough battle between the forwards. However, we [Jacksonville Axemen] got in the grind and stuck to our game plan. Therefore, we converted many of our opportunities into points.”
“Nevertheless, we still dropped a lot of balls and gave away too many needless penalties. If we want to win [over the Atlanta Rhinos] Saturday, we will have to work on our problem with penalties.”
Jacksonville meets Atlanta 13 August for SC USARL Championship
As previously mentioned, the Jacksonville Axemen will meet the Atlanta Rhinos (3-3-1) this coming Saturday, 13 August, for the SC USARL Championship. As the top seed in the SC USARL, the Axemen will host the Rhinos on the University of North Florida soccer fields.
Atlanta arrives as a surprise opponent for Jacksonville. The Rhinos earned their trip after unexpected back-to-back wins over theTampa Mayhem (3-4-0) Currently, Atlanta rides a three-game winning streak.
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To learn more about the Jacksonville Axemen, please visit the club’s website. For more information about the Atlanta Rhinos, please visit the club’s website. To learn more about the Central Florida Warriors, please visit the team’s website. For more information about the Tampa Mayhem, please visit the team’s website. For additional information about the USA Rugby League (USARL), please visit the USARL website.
