The Summit Tigers boys rugby team was challenged in its last pair of matches of the season. The team had not played a match since April 16 and had three major players unavailable for their games.

The Tigers faced this challenge head on, however, as the team took on Castle Rock and Fort Collins-Brighton on a warm but windy day, Saturday, May 7, at the Aurora Sports Complex in Aurora.

In its first mach of the day, Summit faced its rival, Castle Rock, for the third time this season. Summit came into the trilogy-ending match without a win against the Castle Rock team, but they were eager to get one.

In the early minutes of the match, both teams battled. It took a full eight minutes before a try was recorded by Castle Rock to go up 5-0 after a missed conversion.

The score remained the same at halftime, but after the brief intermission Castle Rock began to run away with the game.

Castle Rock scored two tries and conversions against Summit in the second half, giving the team a 19-0 advantage with five minutes remaining in the match. The Tigers refused to be shutout by Castle Rock and continued to keep the effort high late in the game.

GC Martinez at the scrum half position put the Tigers’ persistence on display as he executed on a try at the final whistle. The Tigers were successful on its conversion to bring the score to 19-7 to end the game.

“I have to commend Castle Rock. They were better,” head coach Lance French said. “They worked harder, they did what it took and they got us.”

After a quick 10-minute break between matches, the Tigers took the field against a Fort Collins-Brighton team that the team has beaten a couple times already this season.

Unlike Summit’s match against Castle Rock, the Tigers got off to a hot start with rookie Silas Tharp scoring a try after a quick pass from Martinez. The score put the Tigers up 7-0, but after the Tharp try, the two teams began to battle.

Both teams worked to earn scores, and it quickly began apparent that Fort Collins-Brighton had drastically improved since the beginning of the season.

“Teams are getting better. There is no walk overs anymore,” French said. “You have to play well in order to win.”

Fort Collins-Brighton puts its skill on display right before halftime as the team scored a try to bring the score to 7-5 after 20 minutes.

With both teams noticeably better than earlier in the season, the game came down to the team who made the fewest mistakes. At the end of the match that team was Fort Collins-Brighton.

Fort Collins-Brighton shutout Summit for the entirety of the second half, capitalizing on missed tackles from Summit to score two quick tries in order to defeat the Tigers, 19-7.

The Summit boys rugby team concluded its season with a 5-4 record overall, a stark contrast from when the team failed to win a single game last season.

“They gave it their all every second of the match,” French said. “We exceeded our goals this season and built a foundation of success.”

The team will graduate three seniors this spring, and 12 experienced players are expected to return next season.