Black and Blue rules again

New faces that are familiar in other sports showed up for the Black and Blue this spring, and helped keep up the Flathead Valley rugby club’s winning ways.

With a 12-0 win over the Missoula Mud Dogs on a pitch northwest of Glacier High School, the Black and Blue repeated as state rugby champions Saturday.

Wyatt Thomason, who played an excellent linebacker for Glacier last football season, scored the first five points of the match midway through the second half. Then Fin Nadeau, a wrestling standout for Flathead, added another try before Henry Bennetts hit a two-point conversion kick dead-center.

“You get one rugby move and I did that and got it in,” said Thomason. “I looked up and (the official) gave me the thumbs up, and it was such a good feeling, because I knew we had it in the bag. Coach has been telling me to run straight all season, and I just picked the perfect time to do it.”

It was a much harder-fought victory than a year ago, when Flathead Valley beat Missoula 38-10. The Mud Dogs were able to hold the ball off the turf on a first-half try by Flathead Valley, keeping the match scoreless and adding to the drama.

Enter Thomason and fellow first-year players Kayden Berkey and Jake Rendina. As often happens, the Back and Blue had to retool. Along the way they lost twice to Missoula.

Saturday’s battle was their second match of the day — they beat Helena in the semifinals — and it showed.

“I’m feeling it,” a limping Nadeau said.

“I don’t know what happened to the eye,” said Thomason, sporting a knot near his left eyelid. “I’m not feeling very photogenic. It looks hard, though. Black and Blue, baby.”

Perhaps it was an upset: Anyone who thought the 255-pound Rendina would be the biggest player on the pitch was in for a shock.

“They had some big boys,” Nadeau said of the Muddogs.

The record-setting Glacier running back was still a weapon.

“It took a couple guys to tackle Jake and then we’d get it outside, and we have some speed out there,” Nadeau added.

“We always look for new players,” Dan Fitch, in his first year as head coach after a year as assistant, said. “That is the crux of rugby, new talent, and getting kids to participate.”

Oftentimes that can mean doubling up: Rendina is also throwing the shot for the Glacier track and field team; Kutuk White is a top Flathead tennis player.

Berkey is from Flathead High, as is Luke Leech. Fitch also had players from Whitefish, Columbia Falls and one homeschool student on the roster.

“Luke Leech, our No. 4, was the most improved player that I’ve probably ever seen,” Fitch said. “Both in terms of skill and just game coming to him.”

Fitch, who played collegiately at Wyoming, singled out Bennetts for his play at forward-half.

“Kind of a quarterback-ish position,” he said. “Integral. We couldn't do a lot of stuff without him. I put a lot on his shoulders.”

It paid off with another title, hard-fought and full of scrums, including one extra-curricular one in the final minute. Then came three blasts of a whistle, and several celebrations by the Black and Blue, old and new.

“I like hitting people,” Thomason said. “And thought, ‘Well, I can’t do that in track. So I might as well play rugby.’

“I love this program. So much fun. Nothing like it.”