The Houston Sabercats laid down a marker in their first game of 2018.

The Sabercats hosted the Seattle Saracens in a preseason tuneup (MLR doesn't start until April) and hammered the Seattle club 50-7 in Sugar Land, Texas, on Saturday night. While the Saracens have not been as fortunate as Houston when it comes to weather lately, and could be considered slightly less settled and maybe a little bit more rusty, it was still an impressive showing from the Sabercats.

Houston head coach Justin Fitzpatrick coached in Seattle for several years, with Old Puget Sound and then the Seattle Saracens — the club from which the new Seattle Seawolves have drawn many of their players. Fitzpatrick said he was looking forward to the game but didn't attach to much drama to the matchup.

Rivalry Born

"It was my idea to invite Seattle down," Fitzpatrick said. "I and the other guys in Houston who played there had a very positive experience there, and what better way to kick-start our inaugural season, so to speak, than by playing a high-quality side and some old friends as well."

The game was played before an estimated crowd of 4,000 at Constellation Field and was back and forth in the early going. It wasn't until the 13th minute that the scoreless deadlock was broken.  

Joshua Vici set up flyhalf Sam Windsor, who did the rest to touch down, and capped Eagle Zach Pangelinan converted. Vici then took it in himself, and Pangelinan's kick made it 14-0. 

Seattle had its moments, and Eagles flanker Aladdin Schirmer helped put Houston under pressure. But the Sabercats have outstanding speed and counter-attacking ability and quickly turned the tables on the Saracens. Malacchi Esdale raced in for a try, and Connor Murphy made it 24-0 with 12 minutes still left in the first half.

Late First-Half Body Blows

Two minutes before the break, Windsor was the beneficiary of some snappy backline work for his second, stretching Houston's lead to 29-0. There was time for one more play, and Pangelinan sniped in and converted to make it 36-0 as the teams hit the sheds for halftime.

The scoring slowed down somewhat in the second half as Seattle's defense improved, as did its ball retention. Pago Haini scored on a pick-and-go in tight for Houston, but Seattle had the run of play for the most part, if not the points. 

Seattle Replies

After bashing against the tryline for much of the second half, Seattle got a try when Will Rasileka powered through a tackler and set up Will Crowder for the Saracens' only try. Haini then finished off the scoring with the game almost done.

"We're aspiring to play a different brand of rugby," Fitzpatrick said. "We're excited to do it the Houston way. In the fall we got a good look at everybody and started to put together our depth chart. We put in some systems and standards, and we're looking forward to ramping it up now."