The Texas heat did not come to mess around and neither did the Aggie Rugby Gray side, winning 32-19 during a scorching Saturday, Sept. 14 match at the Penberthy Rec Sports Complex.
Officials changed the usual three 30-minute periods to four 20-minute quarters to give players more time to recover in the scorching heat. A large crowd supporting both teams held umbrellas and sat under canopies seeking relief from a “real feel” temperature of 105 degrees during the 2024-25 season opener.
“It was extremely rough,” kinesiology sophomore Jon DeAnda said. “There are no other words for it. It was tough. I’m just beyond glad we are playing on real grass and not playing on turf. It would have been worse.”
Despite the Bearkats leading 19-15 at the half, the Aggie strategy to run the ball with solid defense eventually paid off. DeAnda moved the Gray into the lead early in second-half play.
“I have to give credit to the backline,” DeAnda said. “They executed their job, so I could execute mine. Definitely a team effort.”
The sport management sophomore fly-half Ian Linkerhof went for the conversion making the score 22-19.
“Sam Houston is a good team,” Linkerhof said. “They’re tough, but we came out. [Grey side is] a brand new team. I met these guys three weeks ago, and I feel like we have such a great connection on the field. We had key targets that we needed to hit, and we were able to score and win.”
The heat caused four players to briefly miss the action from vomiting, but all returned to game action.
“It’s been in the upper 70s-80s the entire week, so practicing in a different heat than when you are playing is tough,” finance senior Grant Nichols said. “But our fitness will get better as the year goes on.”
Nichols said conditioning and practicing strategy will be key factors going forward.
“It was a little shaky at the beginning,” Nichols said. “We couldn’t get it out. But once the forwards started feeding us, it was a good day.”
With time running out, Linkerhof went for a final try to score and ended the match 32-19 for the Aggies.
“It was really good,” Linkerhof said. “Sam Houston was predicted to win — but hey, we are up there. That’s all I have to say.”
The Grey side will take on Tennessee II on Saturday in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information, visit AggieRugby.com or follow @tamurugby on Instagram.
Belle Chapa is a Agriculture Communications & Journalism junior and contributed this story from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.
