Following a disappointing result in the initial tourney, this past weekend the BAs made the trek down the peninsula for the second installment of the PA 7s with a lot to prove. A slightly reconfigured squad saw the return of Greg Mohrman and Rob “Comet” Greenip to the pitch.

The first match of the day squared Baracus against a younger squad from Monterey. Sensing the inexperience opposite their numbers, the BAs came out aggressive and struck early with a familiar-looking Royal Gentry try on the outside. This time he managed to fight his way to between the posts and converted, BA 7-0 early. Monterey, with a range of sizes and ability levels, managed to create havoc with an oversized center who required too many BA tacklers to bring down. He was able to offload in front of the try zone for an unconverted score. 7-5 BA at the half. Early in the second half BA put pressure on the Monterey defense with several breaks in the middle of the field. Greg nearly scored after 2 Monterey players tackled him just shy of the try zone. Quick ball was cycled out to a streaking Pauly D who shed a tackler and scored an unconverted try. 12-5 BAs. BA struggled to put together much offense in the remaining few minutes, going away from the clean 7s they had played up until that point. In the end the BAs were relieved to pull out a 12-5 win, our first of the season.

For the second consecutive tournament, a key back (this time Paul) was rewarded for his proper tackling technique with a shoulder sting that set him out for the remainder of the day. It was a tough loss as Paul’s tackling and tackler-shedding play had helped us pull out the first match. After again shedding some crocodile tears (Mr T does have a sensitive side), the BAs recollected themselves for the match against SJ Seahawks A. Inspired by their hard-running teammates injury, BA managed to strike first asGreg Mohrman crashed through a gap an managed to reach across the line through the tackle for a self-converted try. The Seahawks responded quickly with their own converted try and the rest of the half was dominated by a series of back and forth penalties upon which neither team could really capitalize. Halftime 7-7. Out of the half, the Seahawks scored 2 quick tries, one a breakaway off a bad bounce, to put us down 17-7. After BAs regained their composure, a series of breaks and finally a penalty in front of the try zone led to a quicktap try to put the BAs down only 17-14 with significant time left. However, the Seahawks managed to pin Baracus back inside their own defensive zone and capitalized on an errant pass to seal the game. 24-12 Seahawks.

After a very long wait, BA took the field in impending twilight well after 5pm against a Fresno squad who faced a long ride back to the central valley. Eager to end the day on a high note, BAs came out focused and scored 4 consecutive tries in less than 5 mins to start the match. The shell-shocked Fresno youngsters fell apart after that, allowing a total of 8 tries. Highlights included a Royal hat trick, Comet’s first sevens try in 10 years, Akio chasing down a Fresno player to seal the shutout, and significant fist pumping and whooping from Racer throughout the match. BA 48-0. Pity those fools.

A strong performance left the BAs smiling and high hopes for the remaining two tournaments of the year.