Last-Second Heroics Win SC for Wando
Wando won the South Carolina Boys HS championship in dramatic fashion, beating South Greenville 25-24 on the final play of the game.
In a tense game where neither team was able to really break free, Wando got some excellent work from the center pairing of Jon and Josh Cummings, who held South Greenville's effective midfield in check much of the day.
Rugby Pa Playoff Latest
The finalists for the Rugby Pennsylvania boys championships are set as the semifinals were concluded Saturday.
Ina dramatic Boys HS Club semi, Downingtown just held off West Shore to make the final. There they will meet Doylestown, who won by forfeit over West Chester, as West Chester could not, apparently, field a team the day after their prom.
That was a sad end for West Chester, but things were a little better in the single-school semis. There, Conestoga, led by strong performances from Kade Lamarre and Ronan Carter, looked dominant in a 47-19 victory over La Salle.
Conestoga got into penalty trouble early, and it took more than a quarter of the game for the favorites to settle down.
Gonzaga Holds Off Georgetown in MAVRC Final
In a rematch of a very tense regular season meeting between the two, Gonzaga HS once again held off a determined Georgetown Prep, this time to win the MAVRC championship Friday night.
Before the crowd was even settled in their seats at Gonzaga's Buchanan Field, Georgetown Prep made clear their intent to make the path to another MAVRC championship as difficult as possible for Gonzaga. In the opening minutes, Prep worked their way into the Gonzaga half using combinations of backs and forwards to press the attack, moving the point of attack and the Gonzaga defenders. The pressure culminated with a try when Prep moved the ball out right to the backs, then attacked back tight left and then moved to the far left where prop Jose Cruz finished off a hard run from flanker Brian Ferrigno, punching in for a try and a 5-0 Prep lead.
Doylestown Heads Rugby Pa Semis
Doylestown goes into the Rugby Pennsylvania Boys HS Club playoffs almost prohibitive favorites, but Coach Mike McCandless has a cautionary tale for his players.
Sure, Doylestown had beaten all three of the other semifinalists - Saturday’s semifinal opponents West Chester 69-7, and the other two teams 31-7 (Downingtown) and 61-10 (West Shore). But two years ago, it was Doylestown that had lost to its playoff opponent earlier in the season, and then come back to win in the playoffs.
“If we can do it, so can they,” said McCandless. “All of the teams are tough. We expect they will have improved.”
Boys HS Games This Weekend
The playoffs are hitting states all over the country now, and we've got the list.
Some games to watch - Doylestown has looked like the top team in Rugby Pennsylvania's club competition, and beat Saturday's semifinal opponents, West Chester, by 62 points back in April. They won fairly comfortably over the other two semifinalists, as well, and are expected to cruise. The winner of this playoff will get a spot in the Boys HS Rugby National Championships.
Pacific Cup All-Tournament Team
Coaches from the 2016 Pacific Cup tournament voted to select the tournament's all-tournament team.
Danville Oaks scrumhalf Keanu Andrade was named tournament MVP.
Fishers Feeling Good Entering Mudsock Game
Just a week after pushing Royal Irish in the final of the Midwest HS Club Championships, Indiana-based Fishers HS will play in the team’s annual Mudsock rivalry game with Hamilton Southeast.
The game stems from the days when HSE was the only high school in Fishers, Ind. Then as the town grew, Fishers HS was built, in essence splitting the town down the middle. A youth football field sits in the middle of the town on the banks of Mudsock Creek, and that area is considered sort of a neutral area for the two schools.
So the annual Mudsock Game is about a meeting of the two rivals. HSE won last year, and took the traveling trophy, a statue of a lion with tiger's stripes - a nod to the HSE mascot (lion) and the Fishers mascot (tiger).
MAVRC Final Set for Friday
The top two teams from the regular season, #11 single-school Georgetown Prep and #2 Gonzaga, will meet again for the MAVRC championship on Friday.
These two played in a tight, seesaw affair earlier this season, with Gonzaga scoring late to finish ahead 20-10. Both teams will be looking to make a statement in this match, the last game of the season for Prep and one last local match for Gonzaga before heading to the Boys HS Rugby National Championships.
2016 Boys HS Club Rankings #13
Danville wins the Pacific Cup and stays at #1 in the latest Goff Rugby Report Boys HS Club Rankings. Royal Irish wins the Midwest (with some pushback from Fishers), and stays at #2.
Red Mountain slips somewhat after the Pacific Cup. They didn't play poorly, but losing two games opened up the door for some others. Back Bay looked very good in the SoCal semis, and jumps ahead. Peninsula Green stays strong (and since their score v. Danville was similar to Red Mountain's, you could argue that's tough on Red Mountain, and it is, a bit). We've decided the Hampton Heat are good, and they move up - same goes for Doylestown, which has been winning HUGE of late. We also move some teams out - and some teams in. The Albuquerque Eagles settled it all with the New Mexico playoffs and they are the team in the rankings as a result. Raleigh, Prince William, and Eagan move in.
BC High #1 Seed in Mass.
BC High wrapped up their regular season Wednesday with 62-15 defeat of Needham HS.
Led by Junior Max McCullom’s three tries, BC High capped off a run of games that have seen their team steadily improve. Since mid-April, BCH has beaten Xaverian Bros. 22-12 and Bishop Hendricken 22-12, but both games were in doubt until the final 10-15 minutes. Still, the defense has held steady, and various players have stepped up when needed.
2016 Boys Single-School Rankings #13
You know you've been waiting for this.
This is the final rankings before the National Championships, and before several state playoffs. The rankings will continue past the NIT, of course, because we've got several leagues still playing. So here's what happened. St. Edward went to #1 last week on the basis of one game, a very close (and some would say a bit controversial) win over #1 Gonzaga. Logic dictated St. Ed's goes to #1 and they did. But then St. Ed's lost in the Midwest championships. Now, that loss was only 10-7 in a shortened game, but the teams are all so very close now. Penn hammered the team that beat St. Edward, Notre Dame de La Salette. What to do? St. Edward moves down. Notre Dame moves up a little, but we need to see more. Penn moves up, and in the end we've got to put them at #1, for now.
EIRA Player of the Week - Jesse Phillips
The procedure wasn’t expected to be a big deal - wrestlers and rugby players, and Jesse Phillips was both, get their noses bashed around a bit - but it ended up being a very, very big deal.
Phillips had just finished his sophomore year at Ravenwood HS in Tennessee, part of a team that had just lost in the state final. He played hooker, and wrestled, and in July of 2014 went to have surgery to straighten his septum - probably made crooked from a broken nose.
Western NY Latest
High school rugby in Western New York has switched into high gear. The West division of Rugby NY began its league play later than other areas of the country due to its wet climate. Competition in this area is now entering its fourth week of a packed seven week regular season.
Ravenwood Wins Tennessee Title
The Ravenwood Raptors capped off a 10-1 season, with a 28-17 defeat of the Harpeth Harlequins to take the Tennessee state championship this past weekend.
Ravenwood finished 9-0 in Tennessee, with their only loss being against top-ranked St. Edward of Ohio.
To reach the Finals, the Raptors defeated West Tennessee leaders Germantown 42-17 in the semifinals. Harpeth defeated South Doyle in their semi, 40-14.
This set up a rematch of an achingly-close game Harpeth and Ravenwood played in the regular season. In that game, the Harlequins ran out to a big lead - 27-5 - and saw the Raptors come back to win late 33-27. Things would go somewhat the same way this time.
Boys HS Nationals Brackets Set
The Boys High School Rugby National Championship has announced its seedings for the three brackets of the competition, to be held May 19-21 at the Rugby Athletic Center in Charlotte, NC.
Last year, Royal Irish just got by Granite Bay in the multi-school championship, while Gonzaga edged Jesuit in the single-school. Union County (NJ) won the Combined bracket, but won't be participating this year.
Single-School
In the single-school bracket, defending champions Gonzaga take the #1 seed. Here are the rest of the seeds:
1. Gonzaga
2. Jesuit (Sacramento)
3. Penn HS
4. St. Edward
5. Xavier
6. Greenwich
7. Notre Dame de la Salette
8. Mira Costa
