South Valley rugby club dropped its league opener 48-32 at
Berkeley on Feb. 4. The Bucks were coming off a Bronze Division
championship run at the Jan. 29 Kick Off Tournament at Cordova High
School. They finished 3-0 and outscored opponents 34-5, including
two shutouts. Fanua was named division MVP, while Marcum scored a
tournament-best 25 points in five tries.
The South Valley Bucks rugby club dropped its league opener 48-32 at Berkeley on Feb. 4.
Despite playing a man down for most of the first half, the Bucks trailed by only a converted try, 19-12, at the break, thanks to tries by junior lock Vince Fanua of Sobrato and senior scrum half Mitch Marcum of Live Oak. Junior flanker Chris Harris of Live Oak converted Marcum’s try.
Senior lock Randu Lucachin of Sobrato was sent off at the 15-minute mark because of a dangerous tip-tackle.
Berkeley made good use of its man advantage in the second half, pouring in four consecutive tries to extend its lead to 43-12.
The Bucks (3-3, 0-1) outscored the Rhinos 20-5 in the final 20 minutes, with three tries by Fanua and another by sophomore standoff Barret Lowe of Valley Christian.
Fanua led all scorers with 20 points. Senior prop Ruben Magana and senior hooker Andrew Daggett, both of Live Oak, also played well for the locals.
In the frosh/soph match, South Valley lost 37-27 to Berkeley to fall to 3-3 and 1-1.
South Valley’s varsity was coming off a Bronze Division-championship run at the Jan. 29 Kick Off Tournament at Cordova High School.
The Bucks finished 3-0 and outscored opponents 34-5, including two shutouts. Fanua was named division MVP, while Marcum scored a tournament-best 25 points in five tries.
In the final, South Valley defeated Silicon Valley 19-5 with a superb second half.
Senior wing Erik Nielsen (Live Oak) opened the scoring at the seven-minute mark, touching down after a long sprint from midfield. Sophomore center Isley Nagel-Watene (San Benito) set him up with a short pass after Nagel-Watene split two defenders.
Silicon Valley scored a tying try just before halftime.
From there it was all South Valley. The Bucks made crushing tackles and played great defense, led by senior center Javy Rubalcave (Live Oak) and Lucachin.
They took the lead for good with junior fullback Austin David’s (Live Oak) try between the posts. Harris tacked on a conversion to make it 12-5 with seven minutes left. Marcum scored another try, and Harris made the conversion for the final score.
In its previous game, South Valley blanked the Cordova Lancers 15-0 with first-half tries by Fanua and Marcum, who scored a second one after the break.
The Bucks beat Bellarmine 20-0 in their opener. Marcum scored two tries, one in both halves. Junior 8-man Devon Jones of Live Oak touched down in the first half, and Fanua in the second.
