North Carolina Champs at South RAST
North Carolina Champs at South RAST
North Carolina Boys All-Star Varsity and JV programs took on teams from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee this past weekend at the South East Regional All Star Tournament at Life University, and seeking to take home 2 Championship trophies and came away successful, as both squads finished 4-0 in the tournament.
The Varsity team was captained by center Maxim Bennett (Charlotte Catholic) and coached by Brendan Keane. Saturday started off well with a 29-15 win against the Smokey Mountain Atheltic Conference. The teams were tied 12-12 at halftime before North Carolina sped away. The NC backs outshone the competition in the second half, and that set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Next up was Georgia, who had pipped South Carolina on penalty kicks 15-12 earlier in the day. Backs scored five of the seven NC tries in a 41-3 victory.
Sunday morning North Carolina took on the Tri Stars from Tennessee and the game was close from the start, neither team gaining an edge until a penalty kick allowed Tennessee to take a 3–0 lead. Scrumhalf Chase Suznevich (Union County) put in a long try off a break from the back of the scrum to give NC a 5-3 halftime lead. NC kept possession most of the second half, as Tri Stars were shorthanded thanks to a yellow card, and then almost immediately upon getting to full strength, Tennessee got a red card that had them playing a man down for the rest of the game. In that time North Carolina wingers Zayvier Douglas (West Mecklenburg) and Flapp Bradshaw (Raleigh Rattlesnakes) put down tries for a final of 17-8.
The Championship Match saw Louisiana, which had defeated Georgia in the semis, take on North Carolina in what promised to be a close match. North Carolina built a 21-0 halftime lead behind two tries by Tournament MVP Bradshaw, who had six total for the weekend. Louisiana, battled back, with two tries to make it 21-14 with 11 minutes to go. North Carolina managed to regain possession and run out the clock to win 21-14.
North Carolina's JV team beat Georgia 10-5 to complete the sweep for NC.
North Carolina's JV team beat Georgia 10-5 to complete the sweep for NC.