The North Florida rugby club (5-1) avenged their Oct. 24 loss to Eckerd  (4-1) at home with a score of 49-14 on Feb. 6.

In what appeared to be a tight matchup at the start of the first half, North Florida senior inside center David Aguilar scored the first try of the match. With a successful conversion, this gave the  Deadbirds an early 7-0 lead.

Both teams traded blows until North Florida junior fullback Ola Roberts gave the Deadbirds a 21-14 lead going into halftime. North Florida rugby head coach Rich Alleger praised the efforts of the team.

“Definitely happy with the result,” Alleger said.  “They beat us last semester, so this is one the guys have had circled on their calendars for awhile.”

After the half, North Florida began to dominate. Sophomore wing Karoy Lewis scored the first try of the second half to bring the game to 28-14. Three more tries, including one from senior hooker Kyle Grinold, brought the Deadbirds to a dominant finish of 49-14.

“It turned around at halftime,” Grinold said. “We really put the foot down. We played really good defense and had really good stoppage.”

The Deadbirds play their next match on Feb. 13 at USF.

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