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The match was very close in the first half with Olde Grey using their big forwards to good effect with hard rucking and mauling and close pick and drives.
USC got on the board first with a penalty by sophomore fullback Cullen Clair but Olde Grey had much the better of the first half.
OG replied with a penalty goal of their own and then loose defense around the 22 led to a clear run to the line by the OG standoff. This try was converted and the sides went to halftime with Olde Grey leading 10-3.
The second half was a different story for USC. Playing with a slight wind and with more movement of the ball through the USC backs, the gaps began to open up in the OG defense.
Clair kicked an early penalty to narrow the score to 10-6. The USC centers, Richard Pyke and Peter Boland made several strong runs and made inroads into the Olde Grey defense. Running at an angle off a pass from Boland, Pyke scored the first USC try, which was converted by Clair.
USC took the ball from the kickoff and the forwards mauled it almost twenty yards into OG territory. Good work by the forwards through excellent support play and close offloading saw another try to Pyke in close. This also was converted and the USC lead was stretched to 20-10.
Pyke was troubling OG every time he touched the ball and his backing up led to another try, his third of the afternoon. It was also converted and the Gamecocks led 27-10.
Olde Grey struck back with an unconverted try to make it 27-15, but USC finished strong with another unconverted try, again by Pyke, and then a penalty goal by Clair to make the final tally USC 35 Olde Grey 15.
USC was best served by Irishman Richard Pyke with four tries, scrumhalf Richard Short, prop Ian Toomey and lock Calvin Storey.
USC B side also played Olde Grey B and the match ended in a 12-12 tie.
The Gamecocks next host East Carolina University this weekend in what should be a hard fought match against one of the nation’s Division II college powerhouses.
