Truman Athletics: News and Notes: Bulls drop final game to KU

Rugby: Bulls drop final game to KU

Despite a 5-0 lead at halftime, the Truman Bulls rugby team lost 12-11 to the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday at the Truman rugby field.

Head coach Bill Sexton said that, despite the loss, the Bulls played well.

Sexton said the team had control of the match for most of the first half to give them the lead going into halftime. When the teams came out for the second, the Jayhawks scored a try early and then followed it up with one other to make the game 12-5. The Bulls then returned the favor, scoring with only a few minutes to go to make the score 12-10, although sophomore full-back Joe Krispin was unable to convert the try, which would have tied the game.

"Normally, he would've converted the try," Sexton said. "Unfortunately, he pulled the ball a little to the left and he missed it."

This loss capped off a successful year for the Bulls, as they garnered wins against Oklahoma State University and the University of Nebraska.

Sexton said he expects good things out of his young team.

"We started a very young team this season, and we talked early in the season," he said. "When it was clear that we weren't going to be in contention, we knew that we were building for the future. We're pretty excited about the fact that we have this young core of players who are pretty talented and if we add some young players, we'll be in some pretty good shape."

 Football: Spring game shows new offense

After a 4-7 season this fall, the Bulldogs took to the field to face a familiar opponent: themselves. Truman suited up for their annual Purple & White game Saturday at Stokes Stadium.

"We're throwing a lot more," freshman wide Receiver Dallas Grier said. "Those are the kind of quarter backs that we have. We have throwing quarterbacks now. We're running more of a spread offense, a lot of shotgun ... we're totally no huddle now. We have a really fast moving throwing offense."

Junior wide receiver Donald Harvey led the way for the purple team, scoring two touchdowns to give it the scores it needed for the 17-0 win.

Senior quarterback J.B. Clark, newly transferred from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., tossed the first touchdown to Harvey, a backfield throw that led to Harvey running 67 yards into the endzone.

"[Former quarterback] Phil [Davis] was a tremendous athlete on the ground," Grier said. "He could run with the best of anyone on the field. That helped us out last year. But J.B. he is really disciplined. He has a lot of experience that is obvious when he plays, just how calm he stays in the pocket. That's his strength, just putting the ball in places you wouldn't think he would normally be able to get them to."

The second touchdown was a one-yard score, being the result of a 32-yard strike thrown to junior Harnish Ayora by freshman Conrad Schottel to take the ball to the one-yard line.

This game is the last  game action the Bulldogs will see until their first game next season September 1, when they face Northwest Missouri in the annual "Old Hickory Stick" game.