Axemen win home opener

Jacksonville Axemen vs. Oneida FC
Oneida FC traveled the length of the east coast to a fired up Jacksonville in Round 2 of the USARL. Due to the unavailability of many players from Round 1, Oneida took to the field with a team of young and enthusiastic athletes looking to battle it out with an experienced Axemen outfit. Both teams started well and went toe to toe for the first 10 minutes before the Axemen crossed for what was to be their first of 3 tries in the first quarter.

The second quarter didn't start well for Oneida when Luke Schlotman was shown a Red Card after an altercation close the the Axemen line. What was always going to be a tough battle for Oneida turned into even more of an uphill struggle with Schlotman given his marching orders! The very next play saw Matt Clarke from the Axemen take the ball from the resultant penalty and appear to strike out at one of the Oneida players. After the play the ball another altercation occurred and Clarke was sent to cool off for 10 minutes as well as the initial incident being placed on report.  After tempers had cooled the Axemen exerted their dominance and ran out convincing winners in the end. Final Score: Jacksonville Axemen 62 defeated Oneida FC 4

New Haven Warriors vs Boston 13s
The new look Boston 13's travelled to New Haven following up on their first up win against OneidaFC.  The match started well, with both teams determined in both running and aggressive defense. Boston was the first to draw blood with a converted try to Australian import Dustin Cooper.  From there Boston controlled the first half with tries to Jamie Green (2), Rey Berkin, and Cooper finishing the first half with a comfortable 28-10 lead.

New Haven started the second half strongly with an aggressive series of attacks scoring a converted try bringing it back to a two score game.  Despite being restricted to 12 men with prop Shane Begin being yellow carded, Boston never looked troubled and finished out the match with a double scoring effort to Casey King, and another try to Cooper. Final Score: Boston 13s 46 defeated New Haven Warriors 16

Baltimore Blues vs. Philadelphia Fight
The Philadelphia Fight continued their commanding start to the season with an 86-6 victory over new-comers Baltimore Blues in Columbia on Saturday.

The Blues were the first to score and crossed over from dummy-half for a converted try to lead 6 - 0 early in the first quarter.  It was good work by the Blues to take that early advantage. But the Fight changed into second-gear & put on 3 quick converted tries to close out the quarter 18 - 6.  Changing up another gear in the next quarter they scored 36 points, keeping the Blues scoreless. And so it was for the rest of the match with the Fight putting their foot fully on the gas pedal even to run out 86 - 6 winers over the courages Baltimore Blues.

Lock, Chase Mason was again the Fight's MVP with a personal tally of 38 points from 5 tries & 9 goals. Bringing his try tally for the season to 13. Captain & Five-Eighth, Johnny Weber, worked hard in both attack & defense to rally his troops after the interrupted start, getting over the line for his season opening try. Fullback, Pat Quirk & winger, Jared Frymoyer, again showed their class in posting 2 tries a piece. Quirk's were 50yd efforts after slicing the defense, while Fry's were a little closer with one a gem down the blind-side from dummy-half. Final Score: Philadelphia Fight 86 defeated Baltimore Blues 6

Rhode Island Rebellion vs. DC Slayers
The Rebellion were looking forward to redeem themselves after a tremendous loss to Philly Fight the previous week at their first home game again D.C. slayers.  Inconsistency in Rebellion’s defense seemed to give the Slayers a distinct advantage especially in the second quarter; and Rebellion could not pick up from there.  Fitness seemed an issue for both teams by the end of the second half, distinctly in the forwards.

The try scorer's of the day was rookie wing Joe Cafone in the first and Co-Coach and number 7 Gareth Frodsham in the third. Gareth was 1 for 2 on conversions on the day. Final Score: Washington D.C. Slayers 41 defeated Rhode Island Rebellion 10