After moving up from DII to DI this season, the Rainier Highlanders wanted to show they could compete in DI, and would be able to compete for a long period; on Saturday, they showed they can compete now, and for tomorrow.

The Highlanders completed an unbeaten league and playoff season in Rugby Washington with a 25-15 defeat of Liberty in the state championship game. The Highlanders jumped out to an early lead and weathered a Liberty comeback that closed the score to 15-10. But two more tries put the game away 25-15. Power-running wing EJ Brown scored two tries, while Taje Davis and Jackson Cooley added one each, and Jacob Nist added five points with the boot.

“We worked on keeping our penalties down as much as we could,” said Rainier Head Coach Jeff Sprouse, whose team opted to play against the stiff wind in the first half. “We were nervous until the final whistle. Liberty can come back at any moment and it was a state final. We felt anything could happen.”

Led by pro Davis Ainuu, Liberty put Rainier under pressure in the scrum. But Rainier got good possession for the backs, including Brown, Davis, and center Jackson Cooley. Flanker and captain Halleluiah Tiauli was superb at challenging Liberty at the breakdown and poaching the ball.

“Liberty is great at the poach, and we wanted to poach first,” said Sprouse.

Tuiauli, left, was inspirational, and Brown, right, scored twice. Maria Valenciano photos.

As impressive as the win was for Rainier, even more impressive was the fact that the Highlanders emerged from the weekend with not one, but three state championships. Their JV team won the JV final, led by a man-of-the-match performance Amanaki Tuamoheloa at flyhalf. And their 7th/8th grade team, led by a performance from Tuatau Faalevao, also won.

Overall, the Rainier boys teams went 20-0-1, with that tie being a 12-12 varsity decision against Eastside.

“Coming from DII we were unsure how we would measure up,” said Sprouse. “But we’ve shown we can play at this level, and that we have the depth to be able to do it in the seasons to come.”