KNOXVILLE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME APPEARANCES
1998 MIDWEST DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP
CHICAGO
SEMI-FINAL
KNOXVILLE 27 KELLOGG 5
TRIES: JOHN DAUGHERTY (2), MARK SZYDLO (2), BILL McARTHUR; CONVERSION, ED EVERETT
CHAMPIONSHIP
KNOXVILLE 20 BREMER COUNTY 12
TRIES: PAT DORWIN, FRANK BENNETT, ED EVERETT AND DOUG POWELL
Possums take down Dogwood championship
April 7, 1997
April 7, 1997
The trophy stayed home.
Knoxville edged Greenville, S.C., 17-16 in the final of the Dogwood Tournament, held April 5 and 6, 1997.
Six teams competed in the two-pool tourney. In Bracket One, Knoxville stomped Johnson City 34-7 before the Possums shut out Findlay, Ohio, 22-0. In the second pool, Greenville romped Chattanooga 47-0 and beat Toledo 20-13.
Final
Ten minutes into the championship, with the pitch softened by a morning rain, Knoxville center Todd Little scored a try and lock Brian Niekerk converted for a 7-0 Knoxville lead.
Greenville flyhalf Rich Cobb booted two penalties to one by Niekerk to bring the halftime score to 10-6 in Knoxville’s favor.
The second half started with Knoxville prop Tyler Huskey bursting up the middle for a 25-meter try that Niekerk converted to put the Possums in front 17-6.
Cobb was knocked out of the game and wing Greg Blinston moved to flyhalf. He promptly slotted a penalty to bring the Griffins within eight points at 17-9.
A try by Greenville wing Lynn Moore, converted by Blinston, tightened the scoreline to 17-16.
The Griffins pressured late on a scamper by scrumhalf Tom Liddle, but a Knoxville player alertly kicked the ball away when no support arrived for Liddle after he was tackled and set the ball.
Knoxville Greenville
Huskey (C) 1 Little
Miller 2 Courtney
McArthur 3 J. Roberts
Cerne 4 Haywood
Niekerk 5 Speaks
Daugherty 6 Van Evera
Cunningham 7 Lecroix
Powell 8 D. Roberts (C)
Hopson 9 Liddle
Broyles 10 Cobb*
Bennett 11 Moore
Little 12 Howland
Koroa 13 Clardy
Dorwin 14 Blinston
Braswell 15 Quirk
*replaced by Jackson
Ref: Craig Kartiganer
A “Rooster” got kicked in the head – and the Possums ended up dead.
Greenville, S.C., defended its Dogwood Tournament title in bizarre fashion, scoring on the last play of the game when a kicked ball bounced off the face of a Knoxville player into the try zone where Griffin No. 8 Dan Roberts fell on it for the easy game-winning try.
The tourney was held at Forks of the River Park April 13 and 14, 1996.
Prelims
In opening round play, Toledo, Ohio, struck first against Knoxville when former U.S. Eagle Rich Schurfeld slashed in from his fullback position to score a converted try.
The Possums rallied with tries by Frank Bennett and Jack Geibig, coupled with two penalty kicks and a conversion from fullback Kevin Blalock to pull away for an 18-7 win.
In its second match, Knoxville broke away from a 6-6 tie with Columbia, S.C., to run out to a 30-6 win. Doug Powell tallied a pair of tries and Blalock finished with half of the Possums’ points on a try, two penalties and a couple of conversions.
Greenville punished Chattanooga and then handled Findlay, Ohio, in a rematch of the 1995 Dogwood Tourney final to reach Sunday’s championship contest.
Final
Knoxville pressured early and were rewarded when flyhalf Marty Bradley nailed a penalty kick to put the Possums up 3-0. Greenville scrumhalf Butch Setzer followed with a penalty of his own to knot the scores at 3-3.
The Possums had a terrific opportunity to score a try when wing Pat Dorwin tossed a lineout to himself, dummied with trailing flanker Oscar Doster to slow the defense, then passed long to mid-field but a knock-on stymied the sure score.
Bradley then added a penalty but off the restart Geibig was whistled for shepherding and Setzer’s penalty made it 6-6 at the half.
Both teams threatened in the second stanza, but numerous Knoxville penalties nullified territorial gains.
Bradley and Setzer, whose angled conversion gave Greenville a 15-14 win over Findlay in the 1995 Dogwood Tourney, traded penalty kicks as it was 9-9 with just a minute left in the match.
A poor Greenville cross-kick went to Knoxville wing Mike Weldon, who set up a maul. The ball was spun to Bradley, whose clearing kick bounced backward off the face of retreating hooker Ryan “Rooster” Miller.
Roberts, Greenville’s captain, was behind the play but alertly knew there was no offside law to be broken and beat the cover to touch down the carom for the winning try. Setzer added the conversion and the Griffins repeated as Dogwood champions.
Greenville Knoxville
J. Roberts 1 Huskey (C)
Beamann 2 Miller
Speaks 3 Sandman
Atkinson 4 Cerne
Sullivan 5 Booth
Van Evera 6 Daugherty
Phillips 7 Doster 7
D. Roberts (C) 8 Powell
Setzer 9 Broyles
Gerezol 10 Bradley
Bratys 11 Weldon
Howland 12 Niekerk
Clardy 13 Bennett
Moore 14 Dorwin
Cobb 15 Blalock
Ref: Rich Boone, C-2, Mid-South
The Possums beat up some future teammates as Knoxville handled the University of Tennessee 26-8 in the championship of the fifth annual Dogwood Tournament.
The event was held April 16 and 17, 1994 at John Tarleton Park.
In pool play, the Possums stopped Greenville, S.C., 12-5 and Johnson City 31-10. UT was upset in overtime 10-7 by Chattanooga before rebounding to defeat Findlay, Ohio, 25-0 to advance to the championship on Sunday.
Final
Seven minutes into the match, Knoxville center Tom Wilson slotted a 35-meter penalty to give the Possums a 3-0 lead. UT hooker Jason Kallivakos answered with a 30-meter shot to make it 3-3.
With 17 minutes gone, Wilson hit a second penalty (6-3), and shortly thereafter was instrumental in the game’s opening try.
As Knoxville pressured the Tennessee tryline, Wilson drew two defenders and opened up a spot that flyhalf Pat Dorwin dived through, the try giving Knoxville an 11-3 halftime lead.
The Possums continued the pressure in the second stanza and it paid off when No. 8 Brian Neikerk scooped up a loose ball and fed center Steve Cunningham on the burst for the try, 16-3.
Moments later, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Neikerk collected a poor clearing kick and rambled in for the try. Wilson’s conversion made it 23-3.
The next 20 minutes were a scoreless stalemate until UT wing Chris Dulin called for a weakside feed off a scrum and went in for a try. With eight minutes remaining, Wilson closed out the scoring with a penalty and the match ended 26-8 in Knoxville’s favor.
Knoxvillle UT
Sandman (C) 1 Pledger
Miller 2 Kallivakos
Salansky 3 Huskey (C)
Christopher 4 French
Roads 5 Lawson
Klaehn 6 Jones
Powell 7 Dixon
Niekerk 8 Brown
Muniz 9 Brant
Dorwin 10 Gower
Bennett 11 Sweeten
Cunningham 12 Olson
Wilson 13 Carter
Altoonian 14 Dulin
Blalock 15 Clardy
Ref: Tim Wright
Notes
The versatile Niekerk would lineup at eightman, inside center and lock during his career at Dogwood tournaments. Steve Cunningham was also comfortable at a number of positions – hooker, flanker, scrumhalf, center and wing.
Blalock was named 1994 Dogwood MVP – thanks to his strong defense at flyhalf when he and Dorwin would switch positions when the Possums defended. Dorwin was primarily a wing and fullback, but also saw Dogwood time at scrumhalf and flyhalf.
UT fullback Don Clardy would later play for Knoxville and Greenville in Dogwood tournaments.
Years later, John Tarleton Park became home to the currrent high school league, spearheaded by longtime Knoxville flyhalf Marty Bradley, who was out of town for the 1994 Dogwood tourney.
KNOXVILLE ROLLS TO CAPE FEAR TITLE
THINGS DIDN'T START OUT RIGHT FOR THE POSSUMS ON THE MORNING OF THE 1995 CAPE FEAR 7s.
KICKING OFF ON SOME FARAWAY PITCH AT AN UNGODLY EARLY SATURDAY HOUR DIDN'T HELP. NEITHER DID PLAYING WITH SIX PLAYERS AS A COUPLE COULDN'T FIND THE PITCH AND PAT DORWIN RESTED HIS TIGHT HAMSTRINGS.
DAYTON SLUGGED OUT A 5-0 WIN - BUT THINGS GOT BETTER LATER AND THE KARS (KNOXVILLE AREA RUGBY SELECTS) FINISHED AT 2-1.
THAT PUT THEM AS THE 8TH - AND FINAL SEED - IN THE CLUB DIVISION.
"BRIAN NIEKERK LOBBIED HARD AT THE PARTY TO GET US OUT OF THAT BRACKET," DORWIN SAID. "BUT THE ORGANIZERS IGNORED HIS FRAYED LOGIC AND WE WERE SET TO PLAY THE TOP SEED IN EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY SUNDAY MORNING."
AN EARLY POSSUM TRY GOT ECU'S ATTENTION AND KNOXVILLE STARTED TO FIRE WITH THE SAME LINEUP THEY WOULD USE THE REST OF THE DAY:
1-BRIAN NIEKERK
2-STEVE CUNNINGHAM
3-STEVE ROADS
4-PAT DORWIN
5-ANDY CLEARY
6-TOM WILSON
7-FRANK BENNETT
"THE THREE GAMES SUNDAY WERE SOME OF THE BEST 7s I EVER SAW US PLAY," SAID DORWIN. "WE KEPT POSSESSION AND WE WERE PATIENT, AND WHEN SCORING CHANCES CAME, WE RARELY DIDN'T TOUCH THE BALL DOWN."
TOM WILSON'S BOOT WAS A BIG REASON KNOXVILLE WOULD END UP WINNING FIVE STRAIGHT GAMES.
"TOM WAS 16-OF-18 IN CONVERTING OUR TRIES," DORWIN SAID. "HE WAS REALLY ZONED IN ON HIS DROP-KICKING."
FLYHALF ANDY CLEARY (SIX TRIES) AND SCRUMHALF DORWIN (FIVE SCORES) LED THE OFFENSE FOR THE WEEKEND, WITH WILSON (CENTER) AND BENNETT (WING) PLAYING WELL OUTSIDE THEM.
KNOXVILLLE DESTROYED NEMESIS LOUSIVLLE IN THE SEMI-FINALS, THEN HELD ON TO DEFEAT THE PHILADELPHIA MAVERICKS 14-10 AT THE "STADIUM" IN FRONT OF A LARGE CROWD.
"THE WIN AGAINST LOUISVILLE WAS SWEET," DORWIN SAID. "THEY HAD THE BEST CLUB WE REGULARLY PLAYED IN TOURNAMENTS AND THE GAMES WERE USUALLY OUR TOUGHEST ENCOUNTERS. THEY SPENT THE WEEK AT THE BEACH, THEN CAME OVER AND BEAT US IN THE FINALS OF THE TENNESSEE 7s THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND."
JULY 1995
LOUISVILLE HIT THE TENNESSEE 7s ON ITS RETURN LEG AND MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WITH JUST SEVEN PLAYERS.THE OPPONENT: KNOXVILLE, WHICH HAD PUT MORE THAN 40 POINTS ON THE BOARD THE WEEK BEFORE IN THE CLUB DIVISION SEMI-FINALS AT CAPE FEAR, AIDED BY TWO TRIES APIECE FROM PAT DORWIN AND FRANK BENNETT.
THIS TIME IT WAS MOSTLY LOUSIVILLE BEHIND EXPERIENCED FLYHALF ANDREW STEERE AND HIS BROTHER, SCRUMHALF TEVIS STEERE. WITH DORWIN COMING ON AS A SUB, HE SPARKED KNOXVILLE TO A PAIR OF TRIES TO CLOSE THE GAP, PASSING FOR ONE AND SCORING THE OTHER.
"I SLID INTO THE TRYZONE AND PRETENDED I WAS TOUCHING THE BALL DOWN, THEN GOT UP TO CENTER THE BALL," DORWIN SAID. "BUT I HAD MY BACK TO THE REF AND HE DIDN'T SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND WRONGLY AWARDED THE TRY WHERE I FIRST SLID IN. THAT KILLED WHAT MOMENTUM WE HAD BUILT UP."
JULY 1996
THE KARS MADE IT TO THEIR SECOND STRAIGHT CAPE FEAR OPEN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, BET FELL 26-5 TO TO MIDWEST POWER METRO (MINNEAPOLIS). METRO WAS LED BY THOR BOLSTAD, A MIDWEST RFU 7s AND 15s PLAYER.
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