After a challenging fall season where the U14 Boys struggled with aggressiveness and inexperience, Morris opened the spring campaign with a clean slate and some new faces. Despite a limited number of practices and some tough weather conditions, the U14s came together very quickly. Morris U14s opened the morning versus a tough Union club that already had a match under their belts. After brushing some of the rust off and getting rid of the butterflies the boys found themselves in a hole, down 12-0. Morris fought back and cut the deficit to 12-7, before giving up and another try to trail 17 to 7. The second half was a tightly contested match, and Morris held Union scoreless, with some tremendous efforts spoiling 2 breakaway runs. We gave ourselves 2 opportunities to score late in the 2nd half that would have tilted the match but had some unlucky knocks inside the 22.

The second match of the day was immediately after the Union contest, and the boys jumped ahead of Bergen quickly. Bergen quickly tied it up, but Morris continued to apply pressure and made outstanding stops defensively. Morris added one try before the half and then salted the match away in the second half to win 22 to 7. Both matches were a total team effort, with some outstanding leadership provided by Jack O’Connor, and an overall fantastic first match by newcomers Luke Ruscher and Shane Yodice, both touching down try’s and making great defensive stops. The Morris boys held there shape very well in both offense and defense, they looked as good if not better as teams well beyond their age and experience.