HS Boys

Charlotte Catholic, North Meck Set for NC Final

North Meck and Charlotte Catholic will face off for the North Carolina single-school title Saturday after both won their semifinals.

Charlotte Catholic defeated Myers Park 59-0 last week, and North Meck edged Hough 17-13.

Charlotte Catholic led by senior forward captain Braedon Mead and team captain Joe O'Shields. Mead scored a hat trick as Catholic physically dominated the young Mustangs, while O'Shields kept Myers Park pinned on their side of the field with his accurate kicking. 

BC High Wins Mass

Boston College High took the Massachusetts State Championships DI bracket Saturday with a 26-10 defeat of rivals Belmont High School.

The game began as a defensive battle and expanded as time went on. Both teams started off with their defenses making most of the noise. Both BC and BHS tried to work the phases and slowly problem for gaps. There weren’t many.

Belmont got on the board first when scrumhalf Darren Chan slotted a penalty from 15 meters out about 10 minutes into the match. BC worked to reply but Belmont’s defensive shape was good and it was a full ten minutes before they could get points. NC High No. 8 Terry Cullen picked from the base of a ruck and scored in the corner to make it 5-3. That was how the score remain until halftime.

Playoffs!

Some state playoffs are are either underway or about to wrap up this week.

In Michigan,  Grandville defeated Troy Athens HS 10-0, then beat West Ottawa in overtime to make the state final. Grandville and Ottawa tied 33-33 after overtime, and it went down to penalty kicks, with Grandville prevailing.

Rockford also won both their quarterfinal and semifinal games to set up the final everyone expected on May 30.

Gamebreakers - HS Boys This Week

We have a lot of gamebreakers this week as the National Championships and a few state finals were going on. Here's a list of some top performers. We didn't get them all, but we tries.

Doylestown Wins Pa, Eyes More

Doylestown capped off a hugely successful weekend Sunday with a 38-10 defeat of Downingtown to win the Rugby Pa Boys HS Club title.

In addition, the Doylestown U15s won their state championship, while their U13s lost in the final.

Aircraft Charter Solutions PoW - Brian Hannon

We have documented the story of Royal Irish Rugby's difficulties in getting to the Boys HS National Championship final, their battle to win the game, and what they went through to get there.

So we've talked about grit and guts and defense. Let's talk about something else - specifically some moments of special skills.

With his team down 8-0, Royal Irish and HS All American flyhalf Brian Hannon called for the ball just a couple of yards from the Granite Bay line.

How the Royal Irish Gutted it Out

Somehow Royal Irish pulled it out.

Injured - one of their top players had to stop playing Saturday after he was told to remove a knee brace - the Indianapolis team held off a determined and talented Granite Bay squad to win their third national HS club title in four years.

“They had some really good players,” said Royal Irish Head Coach Scott Peterson, noting in particular the elusive Sam Cusano at fullback. “Their deep three were really good. A couple of times we really had to scramble, but the guys just had a will to win.”

That might in part be because some of the Royal Irish players were playing in their fourth national final. Those kinds of games get a little easier with time. So even when Drew Weimer was sin-binned, and Noah Schrader, their captain and possibly their best player, had to sit down, they didn’t fold.

2015 Boys Single-School Rankings Week 16

This week's single-school rankings have been enormously difficult. Sure the #1 team won, so Gonzaga remains #1, but very little else is set. At the bottom of the top 50, we had so many teams vying for just a little bit of a look, that we expanded to 55. We just had to. We might retract to 50 again later, but we're at 55 now.

Beaverton Holds Off Eastside to Win Oregon

Beaverton managed to hold off Eastside for the second time in two weeks to win the Oregon state boys HS club championship Saturday.

Beaverton beat Eastside 26-22 on May 1 to ensure an undefeated league season, and then Saturday they held off their rivals 28-25 to win the state title in what Beaverton Coach Nathan Murray called "an epic battle."

Eastside knew they were just a few points shy of Beaverton two weeks ago, and so entered the game with plenty of confidence.

"We prepared well for them in the week leading up to the championship game," said Murray. "We knew it was going to be the toughest game these kids would play this season, but we went into the game with good confidence."

Union Claims Oklahoma

It’s another Oklahoma state championship for the Union boys HS club, as the Tula-based team defeated Bixby 45-13 in the final this past weekend.

St. Xavier Wins 4th-Straight in Ky.

Louisville St. Xavier won their fourth-consecutive Kentucky HS title Sunday with a 26-0 defeat longtime local rivals Louisville Trinity.

The victory capped off an undefeated season for St. Xavier, while Louisville Trinity’s only league losses have come against St. Xavier and Iroquois. Iroquois made the semis, where they were defeated by St. Xavier 38-0.

Boys State Champs So Far

We're not done yet, but here's a list of state champions in Boys HS rugby so far this season.

Some states hold separate championships for single-school and for HS clubs ... we're listed those if they have them. We split up California, as they don't actually have a regular state championship, but stay with Northern and Southern California. The single-school championships in Southern California is also split. We've listed both winners. 

Louisiana and Mississippi combine for the Deep South regional title.

SE Polk Iowa Champs Again

Southeast Polk continued their four-year undefeated run in Iowa Youth Rugby Association 7s by winning the Iowa state tournament Friday in Des Moines.

Polk defeated Mason City 42-0 in the quarterfinals, DM Hoover 28-14 in the semis, and then Iowa City 35-14 in the final.

Iowa City had an impressive season of their own, winning 12, losing two, and tying three. One of the teams they tied was Polk, who ended the season 13-0-2.

Archmere Pulls State, Subaru Double

Archmere Academy in Delaware won the Subaru 7s HS bracket Saturday, following up their Delaware state HS 7s title.

The Auks went 5-0 in the Subaru 7s, defeating La Salle 19-15, Salesianum's 2nd team 24-0, and St. John's College HS 26-5 in pool play. They then went on to veat Media 29-12 in the semis and Salesianum’s 1st team 26-19 in overtime.

Archmere had already defeated Salesianum 26-5 in the state final - the Delaware HS season is a 7s season.

Archmere started rugby in 2013 playing only 7s, but has now also transitioned to 15s.

“It’s a tough adaptation,” said Head Coach Drew Cocco. “But it’s a different transition than other players have to go through because it’s 7s to 15s. But then we added players in 15s and they are learning 7s. It’s a challenge.”