Kahuku Wins Oahu
Kahuku won the Oahu Boys HS league with a 31-0 defeat of St. Francis.
It was a fairly controlled performance from the Raiders, as they continue to keep the opposition away from their tryline.
"Our backline defense is really tight from #9 to 15," said Kahuku Head Coach Seamus Fitzgerald.
Big No. 8 Sekope Latu gave Kahuku plenty of go-forward and also served as the team's goalkicker, kicking thee conversions. Flanker and captain Manawa Owens was brilliant in the breakdown, poaching nine balls, often turning a promising St. Francis attack into Kahuku possession, turning the momentum.
SD Mustangs Beat Snow Canyon
The San Diego Mustangs defeated Snow Canyon in a meeting between one of the top teams in Southern California, and one of the top teams in Snow Canyon.
The game was played at the Army-Navy Academy Sports Complex in Carlsbad, Calif. The teams were evenly-matched early on as they probed each other with kicks.
The kicking contest ended in the Mustangs' favor as they were able to pin down Snow Canyon, and pressure inside their 22. However, the Mustangs lost captain, No. 8, and goalkicker Jackson Baere to injury, which certainly hurt their momentum.
Finally, however, San Diego got a penalty in front of the posts, and flanker Tanner Wyandt was asked to take the shot. He was successful and the Mustangs led 3-0.
Charlotte Catholic to the Top of Two Leagues
Charlotte Catholic defeated rivals Union County 28-10 Friday night to move to 6-0 i the Mid-South Independent Rugby League, and and 8-0 in North Carolina's Open league.
Catholic is in excellent shape now to win the MSIRL, and after dropping Union County to 7-1 in North Carolina (as well as 7-1 in the MSIRL), they are in good shape to be 1st in the regular season, too.
The game saw many penalties on both sides of the ball, but the key for Catholic was that they held solid on several goalline stands, making the Lions work for their points and holding them out despite a determined Union County attack.
Flyhalf Greg O'Shields scored a try - less than his usual haul - and set up several others. Jack Lowe was perfect on his conversion kicks despite the wind, and that gave Catholic full value for their tries.
Texas Update
Here’s the latest from Rugby Texas.
Woodlands pulled off an impressive victory over St. Thomas 64-28. Woodlands remains undefeated, while St. Thomas may have put themselves in enough of a position for a playoff spot if they beat Memorial next week.
Cy Fair produced a big result, defeating Katy 29-25. That victory helped Cy Fair secure the West.
"We knew that it would be a fast and physical game," said Cy Fair CoachPetey Hepburn. "Coach Ed Brown and I preached structure and discipline in regards to the game plan all week. Maintaining possession and capitalizing on opportunities when they were given to us was key."
(See game footage here https://youtu.be/Jy-qlTUDfcE)
Harpeth on the Charge
The Harpeth Harlequins have come out of their solid showing at Nash Bash with wins in their first two Middle Tennessee conference games.
The Harlequins defeated rivals the Clarksville Highlanders and followed that up with a defeat of Father Ryan.
“The relentless pace of Harpeth’s first XV is something that our players could not defend in the first half,” said Clarksville Head Coach Chris Peterson.
Boys HS Games April 6-10
So it's underway in just about every part of the country, and here's a look at games around the country.
PAC is back from a nice tour of Ireland with Irish Rugby Tours and they get back at it with a clash with East HS in Colorado. East is actually scheduled for two games this weekend.
Gonzaga is busy, having already won a league game and now taking on St. Ignatius (Ohio) and the Kansas City Jr. Blues. Those two play each other, also, in a weekend of games between three top-10 teams.
In North Carolina, Charlotte Catholic has been exceptional this season, and Union County not bad, either. Catholic is ranked #10 among single-school teams (they play in the NC club bracket but they're a single-school team), and Union County is #9 among HS clubs. This is a crucial NC league game, and doubles up as a key MSIRL matchup.
Eagan Returns from Tour, Looks to Border Battle
Minnesota's Eagan High School boys rugby team recently finished up with an overseas tour of Wales, Scotland, and England to begin their upcoming 15s season.
The boys began the tour playing games against St Peters, Llanishen, Fishguard, and finally finishing with Bilton School. Eagan began their tour in Wales and finished their tour in Rugby England at the Old Laurentians RFC.
Eagan started the tour off with an adjustment match against St Peters. The jet lag from the trip may have took a bit of a toll on the boys, but they turned it around through the end of the trip ending with a ten score win over Bilton School.
MIAA Season Opens
In a rematch from last year's Massachusetts state final, BC High used smothering defense and a few quick strikes to beat St. John’s Prep 18-5 Wednesday night.
During the first five minutes, St. John’s Prep dominated possession, moving the ball from sideline to sideline, probing for an option and using hard runners to carry the ball up channels. Despite some nice carries and a stolen scrum, Prep was penalized for hitting the scrumhalf at a ruck six minutes in, and flyhalf Nick Sommer slotted the penalty to put BC High up 3-0.
Charlotte Catholic Wins Big One
Charlotte Catholic squared off against the Charlotte Tigers in a Friday night match this past weekend, securing and important win for the NC Open and MSIRL leagues.
The two teams are participants in both leagues and the matches are being counted in both leagues.
Idaho Latest - Mountain Teams Win
Mountain View moved to 3-0 in Rugby Idaho with a convincing win over the Renegades on Monday.
With the 50-19 result, Mountain View remains unbeaten, and has already logged a victory over their closest competitors, Rocky Mountain.
Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain, who lost 30-29 to Mountain View two weeks ago, handed Capital HS a 62-5 defeat.
Capital was just returned from a spring break tour to the Bay Area, where they won twice, Rocky Mountain had not played since the loss to Mountain View.
The Rocky Mountain forwards worked hard despite a size difference, and held sway in the scrums and lineouts. Captain and No. 8 Gavin Nawahene was outstanding and led a superb back row effort.
Hurricanes over Jesuit, Louisiana Playoffs Set
In a clash of the undefeated teams in the regular season in Louisiana, the Bayou Hurricanes traveled to City Park to play Jesuit of New Orleans.
The match wouldn’t disappoint the many fans in attendance with youth and middle school rugby on tap prior to the match (Hurricanes 13- 14-year-olds won handily) and the D3 Crescent City Blue vs Okaloosa following the match. The feature match of the undefeateds would see the the Hurricanes open up the scoring shortly after the starting whistle with freshman replacement hooker Corey Sazama touching down between the posts and Gabriel Cardenas converting. However, the hosts would answer with two tries of their own, neither converted.
Utah Latest - West Valley, Genesis, East All Win
It's still early days in Utah Youth Rugby Boys HS action, but several teams are making a move.
West Valley won big again. With an experienced and talented team, West Valley Coach Epoki Mahina has been able to focus on a team defense that has not allowed a single point in three league games. Saturday's 71-0 shutout of Kau Toa was the latest, and perhaps most impressive, of West Valley's victories.
Meanwhile, keeping pace with West Valley's activities was Genesis. Coach Tuli Vaitohi's group looked impressive in a 54-0 shutout of Provo.
“We played well in every phase of the game," said Vaitohi. "Our forwards controlled the rucks, the backs were well coordinated and our set pieces were executed according to plan."
Jesuit Clinches NorCal Premier
Jesuit HS of Sacramento closed out the regular league season with a road victory over Granite Bay.
While the final score was 58-9, the game was much tougher than the score might indicate. The Marauders, recently bumped from #1 in the national rankings, were forced to work hard in the opening stages against the 8th-ranked HS club Granite Bay. Scrumhalf Carlos Ramirez opened the scoring with a penalty just five minutes into the game. Granite Bay fullback Jon Rogers matched that four minutes later. Ramirez hit another penalty just over 15 minutes in, but Granite Bay came back to hit two more penalties from Rogers to take the lead 9-6.
MAPL Latest - Fort Hunt Clinches
Fort Hunt, as expected, clinched the Mid-Atlantic Premier League with a 29-14 defeat of West End.
West End finished their five-game MAPL season with a 1-3-1 record. Downingtown won 22-20 over West Shore in a game that was also a Rugby Pa league game. Downingtown can bypass West End for 4th if they get a tie, a two-bonus-point loss, or a win against Doylestown.
That, of course, is not a guarantee, and Doylestown needs two wins (or a win and a tie) from Downingtown on April 23 and West Shore April 30 to take 2nd over Gonzaga.
Herriman Holds Off United in Utah
Herriman defeated United 30-24 Friday in a non-league Utah Youth matchup in Alpine, Utah.
The two teams are annually among the best high school teams in the nation, but both were coming into the game under a little pressure. Herriman had already lost to Highland, and were coming into the game missing three key players, including star Noah Vaea. United had lost last week to Snow Canyon, but got a boost as Coach Colin Puriri and three starters, including captain Bailey Wilson, were back from the Rosslyn Park 7s.
Wet weather looked to play a factor throughout the week, but thankfully the storm just missed Alpine and the pitch was dry and in good condition; the teams did have to deal with a hearty crosswind for most of the game, however.
