Maryland took commanding control over the Atlantic Coast Rugby League with a 39-7 defeat of Wake Forest Saturday.

5-0 with just two games to play, the Terrapins need only one more victory to claim their second league crown in the conference’s second year.

Wake Forest scored all seven of their points in the early goings, taking a 7-0 lead. Maryland, again playing without star fly half Matias Cima, who is in camp with the U20s, took a while to get going.

“We had a dismal first half. Our kicking was off, handling was off,” said Maryland coach Jeff Soeken. “We just looked out of sorts, and Wake actually was taking it to us, getting around the corner. They looked dangerous and were really outplaying us.”

One of the guys who was contributing to the wayward start with some poor kicks was fullback Trevor Tanifum. But he recovered and kept the ball in hand to spark the Terps to victory with three tries. The first one was part one of back-to-back scores off of kicks past the defense, and the second was pivotal.

“I think he stepped two (Demon Deacons), and he just sort of ran over one guy on the way to the try zone,” said Soeken of Tanifum’s second try. “That wass sort of, create your own space. That was the try that broke the game open, I’d say. Just a man possessed on that one.”

The loss drops Wake Forest to 3-2 in league play. Barring back-to-back losses from Maryland, or an at-large bid, the Demon Deacons will miss out on the postseason.

Other ACRL scores this week
NC State 20-10 Georgia Tech
Clemson 5-3 NC State
Virginia Tech 24-22 Virginia