It was honors even as three top-ranked Boys HS teams convened on Cleveland play this weekend.

On Friday, Penn, defeated St. Ignatius 22-14 (see report).  

On Saturday, Xavier took down Penn 24-14.

It was certainly a tough game for Penn to play 14 hours after a very physical game against St. Ignatius.

“Xavier was well-drilled, good defensive structure, and physical,” said Penn Head Coach Bart Bottorff. “They won the physical battle.

Xavier had the wind first half and after 30 minutes was up 24-0, and while Penn had the wind in the second half, they couldn’t make it work for them as successfully, scoring two tries.

Both teams played expansive rugby, playing an uptempo game and pushing the wide edges of defenses.  Despite Penn retaining possession for much of the first half, Xavier played excellent defense and pressured Penn into uncharacteristic errors. Xavier's slick handling and counterattacks, on the other hand, resulted in three tries and a penalty. Wing Rory Kinsella finished a multi-phase attack to score in the left corner - Kyle Strehle made the touchline conversion, and then added a penalty. 

Penn scored two tries against Xavier, but struggled through the New Yorkers' defense. Tamara Tidey photo.

Later in the first half, Xavier's stiff defense turned over a Penn possession in the Xavier half.  Wing Damon Anderson kicked the ball downfield, chased, toed the ball ahead again and, in a chaotic scramble in the in-goal, hustling lock Billy Esposito pounced on the ball for Xavier's second try. Strehle hit his second touchline conversion and Xavier took a 17-0 lead. Xavier extended their lead on the last play of the first half when Esposito caught took Xavier lineout and rumbled 20 meters for the try. Strehle's conversion made the score 24-0 at the half.

Penn camped out in the Xavier end for much of the second half and pounded the Xavier line. They scored twice, to make it 24-14 at full time.

"Games this close are won by the team with the least amount of errors,” said Xavier Head Coach greg Norris. “We were fortunate not to make that many today. Penn are a strong and formidable team, who on any other day would have held onto the ball to make it a much closer game. I was very happy with the way in which our lads were able to maintain a high tempo throughout the game and achieve what they are capable of."

On Sunday, then, Xavier faced St. Ignatius, and, after the Xavier players had spent the night in the homes of St. Ignatius players, the hosts won a close one 13-11.

Xavier took an early lead on a well-worked try by Damon Anderson, but Strehle just missed the touchline conversion. St. Ignatius then worked their way into Xavier territory and flyhalf Andrew Baldado popped and inside ball to No. 8 Owen North for a try, which Baldado converted. Baldado then added a penalty to put the Wild Cats up 10-5.

Xavier replied with a Strehle penalty to make it 10-8, which is how the first half ended.

Both teams were nursing bumps and bruises from their previous games, but, said St. Ignatius Head Coach Dan Arbeznik, “we probably had the most favorable schedule of the three because Penn and Xavier had to play on consecutive days and we had a day to rest. Even so we were feeling it and we had five new in our starting lineup on Sunday.”

So the battle raged on. Ignatius tackled well and used their forwards to pound up the middle. Lock Marcus Hogan made some key lineout steals and poaches in the ruck, and both kickers made clutch kicks. Baldado’s, at an angle gave his side a 13-11 lead.

Strehle had one more chance to win it for Xavier, but his kick was 45 meters into the wind, and fell short.

"St Ignatius was a physical encounter and perhaps the men were a little worn from the previous day,” said Xavier’s Norris. “We had periods of great play and great hands, but today was a day in which we had made more errors. St. Ignatius capitalized on our mistakes and we were not able to replicate the performance of previous day.  A weekend like this allows us to mature and  grow as a team. This loss will allow us to grow and mature well."

“The scoreline says it all,” added St. Ignatius’s Arbeznik. “It was a defensive game. Penn took us out of our phases, but we did a nice job of using the opportunities we had against Xavier.

Baldado’s kicking was key.

So, looking at Goff Rugby Report’s single-school rankings, #2 Penn beat #18 St. Ignatius, and then lost to #8 Xavier, and then #18 St. Ignatius beat #8 Xavier.