By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
Yukon will host the Oklahoma Rugby Championships today.
The matches will be played on the pitch at the stadium across from Lakeview Elementary school.
The Yukon-Edmond girls team will play Broken Arrow for the state title at noon.
The Miller rugby team takes on Jenks for third place at 2 p.m. The state championship is set for 4 p.m. with Bixby and Tulsa Union meeting for the title.
Union beat the Millers 55-28 in the semifinals last week in Tulsa and Bixby beat Jenks.
It will be the third meeting of the season between the Millers and Jenks.
The Millers won the last meeting between the teams and will be looking to get their offense working early against a Jenks defense that likes to play a physical brand of rugby.
“Jenks likes to run the ball with their big guys,” Miller coach Aric Gilliland said. “They play a close game but have the ability to break away on you with their speed.
“I expect we will be able to score some points,”
he added. “But, they have quick hitting potential so if will be important for our defense to hold their ground and be steady with no penalties.”
The Millers, who had played Union to a 26-21 match earlier in April at Yukon, had a rough night against the Redskins in the semifinals.
It was the third time the teams had played this season. Union won the first match 35-12 in the pre-season.
Union used their power game and big backs to take control of the match.
Chaslyn Parker scored two of the Miller tries and Darrien Dumas and Dalton Walters each scored a try. Quinn Dennis added three kicks.
Parker’s first try was a penalty try. He was tackled high in the try zone. A penalty try was awarded and the conversion is automatically awarded on a penalty try.
“Union didn’t do anything different,” Gilliland said. “There were no surprises from what Union did.
We gave up another score on the opening kickoff and that set the tone for the match,” he added. “We had to play catch up all night and we struggled defensively.”
The Millers did go into the match with some injuries, but Gilliland said although that did present an obstacle, the team ha d players ready to step in and give their effort.
