Neuqua Logs Victory in Illinois
After a successful tour to Phoenix with matches against Tempe and Arizona Bobcats, Illinois HS club Neuqua returned home to take on Illinois opposition.
The game with Notre Dame de La Salette was called off due to weather, but Neuqua was able to play the Fox Valley Predators and and won 59-17.
Down three starters due to injuries, the Wildcats moved some players around nicely and did well to move the ball and find space on attack.
Prop Andrew Cohen, flanker Alex Patrascu, and wings Joe Quinn and Nick Meger all scored tries. Fullback Parker Kurtenbach scored two and center Matt Chevalier added three, as well as seven conversions for 29 points.
GRR HS Club Rankings Week 10
Some really impressive showings from the higher-ranked teams.
Not only did they win, but they won in impressive fashion. Thunder moves down because they lost to Belmont Shore and it was a shutout. But it's early days in SoCal, and every time we have a league where it's early days then the results carry a lot of weight. But it's ephemeral weight and another result can burst that balloon.
Layton Christian's 45-0 victory over SLV impressed us they move up eight spots. Lurking in the teens are several impressive teams, but it's interesting to see how things go between them and the higher-ranked teams. We were watching 901 but Sunday's result with Woodlands showed that there's a bit of a gap, especially when teams have to rely on their depth through a tough weekend.
Around the Nation in Boys HS Rugby Action
Much, much happened in boys HS rugby and we covered a bunch of it, only to see even more went down.
We have some links on more detailed articles sprinkled through.
Mid-Atlantic and South
Hitting their stride, Fort Hunt defeated Richmond 59-5 over the weekend. Jude Beatty’s kicking from the hand and the tee was outstanding. At scrumhalf he ran the attack nicely, scored a try, logged 19 points, and set up his teammates well.
The Charlotte Cardinals won convincingly over Raptor Rugby of Tennessee. Charlotte Tigers defeated Wando 40-7 paced by three tries from Pete Hayes.
AYR War Eagle defeated Phoenix Alpharetta 48-12, led by a strong defensive effort from their back row. Scrumhalf Evan Cram was very effective, and prop Will Ashby produced a highlight with a thundering run for a try.
NorCal Latest: GB, Marin, Danville
Granite Bay, Marin, and Danville all won in impressive fashion in Northern California's Premier HS league this weekend.
In addition, De La Salle won via forfeit over Lamorinda.
Danville over SFGG
SFGG has been enjoying a very strong season but they ran up against an oak tree on Saturday, with Danville winning 55-5.
"The team performed well overall," said Danville Head Coach Kort Schubert. "Consistent offensive and defensive pressure allowed us to score in different ways – charged down kicks, wing breakaways, quick taps ... The players have bought in to our plan."
Ganville got tries from six different players, three in the backs and three in the forwards. The players, said Schubert, "are committed to getting better at executing our pattern and improving our skill levels each week."
Vienna Slogs Out Win Over Aspetuck
A week after pushing Gonzaga close Vienna defeated Aspetuck in impressive fashion 20-7.
On a wet, rainy day (OK, it's the spring of 2023, just assume it was wet, rainy, windy, or possibly sleet and hail in every game) ... on a wet, rainy day Vienna played some inspired defense.
They contained Aspetuck's danger attackers and gave up just the one try, scored by the thrilling Pearson Hill.
Vienna scored four tries, with No. 8 Juan Bautista Cat notching three of them, and hooker David Kendig getting the other. Vienna has played several games this year in which their defense bends but doesn't break, and eventually they get a turnover and launch a long-range, try-scoring movement. But this game saw Vienna exert pressure and keeping possession.
Fairfield Prep Wins NE Jesuit Tournament
Fairfield Prep beat BC High 22-17 to win the Northeast Jesuit Tournament held in Fairfield, Conn.
Four teams, Fairfield, BC High, Fordham Prep, and McQuaid Jesuit played a series of short round-robin games on Saturday.
Fairfield went 3-0, beating the other three in a combined score of 69-22, with only Fordham Prep being especially close. Still, BC High finished second thanks to a solid defensive showing, beating McQuaid 12-0 and just holding off Fordham Prep 3-0.
That meant that on Sunday McQuaid and Fordham would play for third in a full-length game for 3rd, and Fairfield vs BC High playing in the final.
Fordham had won a close one over McQuaid 13-7 on Saturday, and on Sunday extended that with a solid 38-17 victory to take 3rd.
SoCal Clubs Start Competing
Southern California club teams are finally get into the action.
This weekend we saw three of the top four SoCal clubs from last year playing.
The SOC Raptors visited Tempe in a non-conference game and came away with a 33-19 victory. The Raptors U16s beat Tempe's U16s 52-24. The Raptors Bombers side, basically their 2nd side of mostly U18s, beat Red Mountain.
SOC Raptors vs Tempe
No. 8 Clarence Chaney, flanker Roman Lee, wing Josh Viray, center Jacob Bower, and lock Gabe Morris all scored tries and Keegan Hannon converted four tries.
Strake Jesuit Shuts Out Dallas Jesuit
Strake Jesuit put in an impressive showing in Texas, shutting out Dallas Jesuit 31-0.
Led by a strong defensive effort from No. 8 Mike Melton, looehead prop Daniel Walls, lock Nick Hernandez, and fullback Christian Bennett Strake put together a very good team performance. They secured a bonus-point win and are the #1 seed going into Texas's single-school playoffs.
"Really all of our guys had outstanding defensive efforts," said Strake Head Coach Jason Kimball.
At Least 15 All-Rankings HS Matchups
Tours are still part of the recipe this weekend.
Once again 901 is on the road, joining Woodlands on a trip to New Orleans to take on Jesuit New Orleans, Brother Martin, and each other.
The SOC Raptors open up their season with a trip to Tempe. There's a HS Nationals piece to this puzzle in that the SoCal teams are still playing to get into the tournament. Also to that is Rye vs Xavier. The winner of that game is for sure going to Nationals. The losing team might.
Some other all-rankings games on the slate:
#2 School team Gonzaga hosts #3 St. Ignatius. It's an excellent rivalry and one that was last played out in the 2022 national school final. In that game Ignatius won, but the lineups are pretty different now.
Regis Jesuit Hosting Holy Classic at End of March
Regis Jesuit will host a series of games in Denver in a week.
This will be the first annual Holy Classic Rugby Showcase. St. Thomas Aquinas is due to tour, so Valor has been invited to join and the three teams will all play each other.
"This will become an annual event in Denver and we hope to grow it quickly," said Regis Jesuit Head Coach Ethan Pougnet.
GRR HS Club Rankings Week 9
We're waiting, impatiently really, for the Southern California teams to get going and we're reluctant to drop them down because the bulk of those teams have been playing in single-school competition.
And the Raptors, at least, will be in action this week and we're interested to see how that goes.
We're keeping a close eye on Fort Hunt and Vienna, who both could be ready to launch ... maybe. The Kansas City Jr. Blues look strong this year and are moving up again. Eastside in Washington logged a big result, and Camas may well be the team in Oregon. Phoenix Alpharetta inches up too.
GRR HS School Team Rankings Week 9
We debated for a while the idea of moving St. Ignatius up to #2 or #1.
However, a couple of things prevented that: 1) Herriman won pretty well and so there was no reason to move them back; 2) St. Ignatius and Gonzaga play this weekend. So, instead of making a preemptive judgment on that upcoming game, we'll wait to see what's what.
Herriman plays Highland, which is a tough game, too, so there's no guarantee that the St. Ignatius vs Gonzaga winner will be #1.
East Pulls Away from Highland in Utah
In the last two weeks East HS in Utah has beaten the defending state D2 champs (Brighton, now in D1), and the defending state single-school champs (Highland).
The Leopards took down Highland 40-24 behind three tries from papa Matelau. And it was Matelau who scored the first try of the game, charging in off a scrum. Moments later senior Spencer Black intercepted a pass and took it all the way to stake East to an early 14-0 lead. Highland responded, scoring twice by failing to convert either try.
East responded with some pressure and, when Highland infringed, Ben Blake tapped quickly and was over. That made it 19-10. Highland scored a converted try to inch to within two points at halftime.
Around the USA in HS Rugby
Here's a look at high school boys rugby around the nation.
Northern California
SFGG and Marin faced off in a NorCal HS Club matchup that carried plenty of interest. The Highlanders had been making a push toward challenging the top teams in the region and one of those was certainly SFGG.
In the end, SFGG won the game, 27-10. Lock Dermit Fitzpatrick scored two tries and flanker Benny Hatch had a very strong game. Hooker Evin Gorman put in a ton of work, while scrumhalf Daniel Sweeny handled the attack tempo well. Levi Cervantes was always a threat on the wing.
Torrey Pines Wins All-California Final; DLS Takes 3rd
Torrey Pines defeated St. Francis 31-14 to win the All-California single-school championship.
(This championship does not include the SCIRF teams as it's played between the winners of SoCal Youth Rugby and Rugby NorCal). This takes the championship to Southern California for the first time. De La Salle took 3rd over San Clemente in the 3rd-4th game.
Torrey Pines over St. Francis
The final was scoreless for the first 25 minutes. Torrey Pines had the better of possession and territory but couldn't break through the tenacious St. Francis defense. Finally, St. Francis did break out of their own half and a long run from their elusive flyhalf, Kingston Keanaaina, put them in for a 7-0 lead.
