The Black and Blue rugby team opened the high school season Saturday by dominating a big, talented Bitteroot Warriors squad 25-7.

Black and Blue had its Iron 15 unit, only 15 players in uniform, on the field at Evergreen Junior High School to kick off the spring schedule.

Assistant coach Bob Kiesel said “it was a possession struggle for the first 20 mintues.”

Then one minute later, Tucker Nadeau found a corner of the try zone to give Black and Blue a 5-0 lead.

The Warriors came right back a minute after that to take its first, only lead, at 7-5.

That’s when Black and Blue forward coach Bob St. Onge, had his defensive crew shut down the Warriors for the remainder of play.

And ...

“Our fitness showed up,” Kiesel said of his team’s play as the match went along.

A Matt Gash-Gilder score put the Black and Blue up 10-7 and Brisman White popped one up four minutes later for a 15-7 Black and Blue lead.

Gash-Gilder, who was voted the Man of the Match (Player of the Game) by the coaches, had a dandy 45-meter jaunt with a great stiff-arm along the way for another Black and Blue score.

Then with 10 minutes to play, veteran leader Justin Richmond put the exclamation point down for the Black and Blue with the final points.

Also on Saturday, the Black and Blue Junior High School team opened its season with a 27-0 win over a mixed Missoula/Bitterroot squad.

The Black and Blue are back in action Saturday in Missoula at Washington-Grizzly Stadium for a 7s tournament.