High School Games Jan 18-21
Here are the games in high school leagues around the nation for this week.
Florida and Texas get going somewhat, while a new-look Arizona league has finally figured out that if you're going to have clubs merge due to low numbers, do it before the season starts, not after. And everyone wants to tour to Louisiana at some point. Memphis-based Christian Brothers is in the Bayou state this week.
In Southern California it's rivalry time. There are two huge matchups in San Diego pitting traditional rivals Cathedral Catholic versus Saint Augustine, and La Costa Canyon hosting Torrey Pines. Torrey Pines, LCC, and Cathedral are all undefeated, while Saints only loss was their narrow defeat to Torrey Pines 24-21 two weeks ago.
Check back for scores.
Lindenwood Tournament Brings Top HS Teams - To Be Live-Streamed
The Lindenwood HS tournament returns to St. Charles, Mo. with some of the top high school teams in the middle of the USA, and will be live-streamed by www.FloRugby.com, as well.
The tournament runs from February 24 to 25 and includes defending national HS club champions Royal Irish, Rock Rugby out of Texas, St. Thomas Aquinas out of Kansas, STA's rivals Kansas City Junior Blues (Kansas City, Mo.), as well as Avon Black Swarm out of Indiana, and Jenks HS, out of Oklahoma.
The tournament provides a hugely important kickoff for these teams as the look to either challenge for a state or regional title, or make a push at nationals.
Texas HS Kicks Off With Ruggapalooza
Rugby Texas held its preseason Ruggapalooza event, with teams from St. Thomas HS, Cy Fair, SALT Rugby, Lamar, and West Houston in attendance.
Rock Rugby Starts Off Strong On Southern Trip
Rocky Rugby out of Texas took a preseason trip across the South earlier this month, facing two defending state champions.
The Austin-area team faced Georgia state champions Phoenix Alpharetta and then Louisiana state champs Jesuit of New Orleans. In frigid temperatures in Georgia, Rocky defeated Phoenix 31-12 at the Life University grounds in Marietta. Phoenix won the B-side game.
"I made sure to play all my young kids, so losing wasn't a problem," said Rocky Head Coach Paul McCartney. "The fact that all of the players got game time was way more important."
The players then got some work in with the Life University coaches and a tour of the campus (McCartney is an alum).
Snow Canyon Shows Well
Snow Canyon came away from the Storer Classic feeling pretty good about its performance, as the St. George, Utah team defeated SFGG 15-0 and took down Danville 17-12.
The team logged these results despite only having a few training sessions together. However, some experienced players, especially the halfback pairing of Wyatt Parry and Andy Day, kept things together.
The Snow Canyon forward pack, with David Dillard, Jayden Lacayo, Cesar Martinez, Tucker Lamoreaux, and Logan Pendleton all working hard, set the platform.
"It was an excellent weekend," said Jay Day, part of the Snow Canyon coaching staff. "UCLA's coach Scott Stewart and his staff, along with Jon Straka ran a great event and we had some very competitive teams from all over the West. It was a good first step for us."
Bosco Upends Mira Costa
St. John Bosco made a bit of a statement this weekend with a 28-21 defeat of Mira Costa in the Southern California Varsity Red league.
Bosco hosted the Mistangs and saw the visitors run out to a 14-0 lead thanks to two tries from No. 8 Jonah Tavai, both converted by center Kaden Loversky. Mira Costa may have felt they had the game in the bag, but that was an incorrect assumption as Bosco upped the intensity, while the Mustangs flattened out. The Braves bashed at the Mira Costa tryline for much of the latter stages of the first half, and got over for a try. And then, with halftime looming, Bosco No. 8 Cama Cyrille grabbed a loose ball and powered over for the game-tying try.
Boys HS Games This Weekend
Here are the games being played in Boys HS rugby this weekend.
A closer look at the Storer Classic is here. The Northern California leagues are set to start very soon, with a new Premier alignment. Louisiana and Florida are about to start, too.
So it's mostly Southern California, with the big BIG game being 1-0 Mira Costa against 1-0 St. John Bosco. This is going to be power against power in many ways, but the Mira Costa Mustangs have a bit more of a reputation for wide open rugby. We'll see how they do against a massive, physical Bosco squad.
Carson and Wilson are both undefeated in Varsity White at 2-0. That's one to watch in LA.
Check back for scores.
Top HS Teams At Storer Classic
The Storer Classic college tournament is a January fixture on the UCLA campus, but the associated high school tournament is becoming the bigger event these days.
While six college teams from the University of California system play in the college event, while nine different boys HS programs are in the high school section.
Top Utah-based teams Snow Canyon, United, and Olympus, meet up with Santa Monica and the Irvine Rhinos out of Southern California and Danville, SFGG, Lamorinda, and Mother Lode from Northern California.
San Pasqual, Los Al Win in SoCal Varsity White
San Pasqual defeated Calrsbad in a notable early-season meeting in SoCal's Varsity White division.
Carlsbad had come into the game 1-0 in league play while San Pasqual was 1-0-1 after a somewhat surprising tie with Mira Mesa before the Christmas break.
This time around, San Pasqual put in a better performance and came away 34-17 winners.
"The team put together one of their best performances of the season so far by sticking to their new structures and game plan," said Coach Casey Clark. "The foundations have been laid over the last few years which has made the transition to playing at a higher level much easier."
Torrey Pines Wins Dramatic Early Rivalry Game
Torrey Pines won the early Game Of The Year in SoCal High School rugby, taking down rivals St. Augustine 24-21 this past weekend.
It was a wild, back-and-forth game with some big momentum shifts. Torrey Pines took an early lead thanks to the goalkicking of Oren Cargill. A Cargill penalty made it 3-0, and then after scrumhalf Beau Morgans lofted a wide box kick, and Matt Goena raced in to recover the ball and score in the corner. Cargill made the difficult conversion to put the score at 10-0 for Torrey Pines.
But St. Augustine came right back, using their big, powerful forwards to power through the inside channels. Torrey Pines had trouble getting back quickly enough, and committed penalties as a result. It was just what St. Augustine needed.
Mira Costa Rolls In League Opener
The Los Angeles conference of the Southern California Varsity Red competition kicked off Friday with Mira Costa taking down Redondo Union 55-5.
After graduating 13 of their starting 15 from last year, the Mustangs have had some serious rebuilding to do. However, the new-look Mustangs handled the day just fine against a Redondo Seahawks playing their first varsity rugby game ever.
Boys HS Nationals Applications Open
The Boys High School Rugby National Championships will be held on May 17-19, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. The Boys High School Rugby National Championships expect to attract the top high school teams and clubs in the nation to the premier high school-aged tournament in America.
The Boys High School Rugby National Championship tournament will include separate competitions for boys’ single high school teams and multiple high school club teams. The competition will consist of three 60-minute matches over the course of three days – beginning on Thursday afternoon, May 17th and concluding on Saturday, May 19th.
Defending SoCal Varsity Red Champs Face Challenge
The New Year will bring for the Southern California Varsity Red one of the biggest games of the year, as St. Augustine matches up with Torrey Pines.
Already these two single-school teams have put others on notice.
On December 15, St. Augustine defeated Del Norte 47-7 (that’s the official score, Rugby SoCal stops counting after the margin of victory reaches 40). Torrey Pines slammed Poway 40-12.
And while La Costa Canyon (among others) remains waiting in the wings, the January 6 clash between St. Augustine and Torrey Pines promises to tell us much.
St. Augustine got the expected strong game from Ethan McVeigh, who remains one of the best scrumhalves in the nation. Mike Cross ran well in the interior channels and scored two tries. Sebastian Rohrer has led the forwards, especially on defense and in the set piece.
SoCal Ramps Up Before Break
Just before the Christmas break, the Southern California Boys HS leagues get a league game in.
Varsity Red
Teams from the Varsity Red (100% single-school and school-supported), have been warming up, with Del Norte logging a 46-17 victory over Westview last week. La Costa Canyon also won in a warmup, 40-22 over Jaguars, while St. Augustine won comfortably over Santiago.
But when it's in-league against in-league things will be a little different, and this highly competitive division is usually good for a few surprises.
Cathedral opens up against Patrick Henry
Del Norte hosts St. Augustine
LCC is at SC Tritons
Poway is at Torrey Pines
The Del Norte v St. Augustine game is perhaps the hardest to handicap.
7s Win Sets Black Hawks Up For Aussie Tourists
The Las Vegas Black Hawks got a nice boost of confidence going into this weekend's game against the touring Cavaliers out of New South Wales.
The Black Hawks won the Boys HS Roadrunner 7s U18 division this past weekend in Arizona, with their U16s taking 3rd in the U16 division.
The Black Hawks entered the Open division and took 1st place, while the U16s, made up mostly of forwards in 15s, also finished strong. Following that, the Black Hawks hosted
This came after a 2nd place finish in a tournament in Utah.
The U18 side was captained by Mason Bertsch. In Arizona they had a shaky start in their first match, but quickly found their groove in the 2nd game and dominated from then on. Mason Bertsch was dangerous on attack and his sidestepping helped create space and helped set up scoring opportunities for his teammates.
