2018 CARFU Conference Champions

The Fall league season saw the Maori compile their best performance in recent memory, finishing as CARFU champions with an impressive 11-1 record. The Maori tore through the regular season, relying on a stout defense that gave up only 91 points in 8 games. This dominant performance earned them a home championship against the Iliana Misfits, who the Maori saw off in a 66-27 win.

Seeded second in the Midwest playoffs, the Maori traveled to Milwaukee for a Quarter-final match-up against the St Cloud Bottom Feeders. On a cold and snowy Midwest afternoon the Maori defense and astute tactical kicking proved too much for the Minnesota side, in a 56-10 victory.

Unfortunately the Sunday Semi-final against the Bremer County Bucks did not go as well for the Fox Valley side. Dominating the opening period of play, and repeatedly threatening the Bremer County line, the Maori did open the scoring with a try from Leapai Lealaua. However Bremer County worked their way back in and half time saw them ahead 12-5. Throughout the second half the Maori could not break down the Bremer County defense. In the end Fox Valley had to press to try and score, and gave up a few late points as they chased the game, losing 25-5

Throughout this great season we were lead in scoring by our fly-half Cody Crawford, who finished with 14 tries, 47 conversions, and 7 penalties for a total of 185 points. This brings Cody’s total points for the club up to 473 in league matches. Our second leading scorer was Griffin McGuire, who found the try zone 8 times for 40 points, mostly playing at second row.

The Maori are looking forward to hitting the road this spring where they intend to add tournament trophies to their current hardware.