Saturday brought the Wellington Wizards to St. John’s, FL, where they faced off against the Jacksonville Wolverines U19’s at Prime Sports Rivertown Fields 2. The Wolverines' defense stole the show, allowing only 7 points in the second half, leading to a dominant 58-26 victory over the capable Wellington team.

The match began with the Wolverines taking a quick 7-0 lead. Nick Taylor performed a swift restart, sneaking in for the first try of the game. After a successful conversion, the Wolverines led 7-0. However, this lead was short-lived as Wellington quickly responded with back-to-back tries in under 5 minutes, capitalizing on mistakes by the Wolverines. With Wellington leading 14-7, Dan Gluntz powered his way through for a try following a turnover by Wellington in their own territory. Despite a missed conversion, Wellington maintained a narrow lead at 14-12.

Just four minutes later, Nick Taylor kicked out of the scrum, putting Wellington under pressure once more in their own end of the field. Thanks to an open-field tackle by Slade Castle-Pearce and the support of Zander Erasmus, who gained control of the ball in the ruck, Wellington committed a penalty. This set up Nick Taylor for another quick restart, allowing him to dive in for his second try of the game. After a successful conversion by Matt Brown-Ramos, the Wolverines reclaimed the lead, 19-14.

Wellington managed to equalize with a try 7 minutes later, and after the conversion, the score was tied at 19-19. Toward the end of the first half, Matt Brown-Ramos capitalized on Wellington's errors by converting two penalty kicks, pushing the Wolverines ahead to a 25-19 lead. With just a minute left in the half, Slade Castle-Pearce broke through Wellington's defense for his first try, leaving the score at 30-19 at halftime.

In the second half, the Wolverines' defense dominated, holding Wellington scoreless for the first 33 minutes and allowing only 7 points in total. On offense, Isaac Swain scored his first try of the season just 4 minutes into the half. Additional tries were scored by Taylor, giving him a hat trick on the day. Tries were also put in by Castle-Pearce and Brown-Ramos, leading to a final score of 58-26.

The Wolverines are on the road to play their next game on 4/12 against Key Biscayne.

Players Of The Match
Backs: Nick Taylor
Forwards: Noah Theisan

Game Recap
Win 58-26
Tries: Nick Taylor (3), Slade Castle-Pearce (2), Dan Gluntz (1), Isaac Swain (1), Matt Brown-Ramos (1)
Conversions: Matt Brown-Ramos (6/8)
Penalty Kicks: Matt Brown-Ramos (2/2)