HS Boys

Roosters Crowing in Maryland

With a 31-16 win over West Carroll, the newly-formed Bethesda Roosters have finished their Maryland HS league at 6-0.

The Roosters have secured the #1 seed in the playoffs, with North Bay finishing 2nd. 

Harpeth Finishes Mid Tenn 1st

The Harpeth Harlequins finished up their conference play in Tennessee with a 10-7 defeat of Sumner County and a 27-0 shutout of rivals Ravenwood.

Harpeth and Ravenwood end the regular season #1 and #2 in Middle Tennessee.

Sumner County really pushed Harpeth and also pushed Ravenwood. Their defense is excellent and relentless. 

In a physical clash with Ravenwood, Harpeth ran out to an early lead and cruised to a shutout win.

West Chester High School Boys Dominate in Bermuda

The West Chester High School Boys are no strangers to Bermuda, making it to the finals for the second consecutive year at the Ariel Re Bermuda 7s. Last year West Chester lost a heartbreaker in OT to rival Greenwich High School CT. This year the West Chester Boys sealed the deal with a convincing win over a team of island selects sponsored by Ariel Re.

Besides the opportunity to compete, the Ariel Re Bermuda 7s has become more than just a tournament to visiting teams. West Chester Head Coach Lou Raymond remarked when asked about the overall experience in Bermuda that, "the boys enjoyed the atmosphere and exposure to the Bermuda community." Raymond also mentioned how the players took notice of  the, "1st Class Fields," and the professionalism of the college teams on hand for the event. 

Eagan Shows Hunger in Opener

Eagan and Minnetonka High schools kicked off the Minnesota high school rugby season in a big way last wek, with Eagan coming away with a 66-22 victory.

Royal Irish Faces St. Ignatius in High-Level Clash

Royal Irish is among the top HS clubs again this year, and St. Ignatius out of Cleveland just got put in the possibly unenviable position of being ranked #1 among single-school teams - now they will be playing each other.

For Royal Irish, it's been an up-and-down season in terms of putting the right lineup together, and finding the right games. But things ramp up this week with a midweek clash with Brownsburg, and then Ignatius.

"It's been an interesting season," said Royal Irish Head Coach Scott Peterson. "Our numbers are down overall, but we still have the talent to beat anyone. We have gotten better across the board, as you do as the season progresses. Our offensive pattern is coming along well and our defensive shape is also getting better."

Injuries have hit Royal Irish, but they've added some new talent and they are getting up to speed. 

Jesuit NOLA v Bayou Hurricanes in Louisiana Final

The Bayou Hurricanes will face off with the Jesuit-New Orleans Blue Jays for the Louisiana state title this coming Saturday in Gretna, La.

 These teams played on April 1, with the Hurricanes capping off a four-weekend, four-victory run with a 29-23 result. 

Hurricanes over Jesuit, Louisiana Playoffs Set

The Hurricanes are mostly healthy, but will be without center James Williams, who received a red card during the state semis. That has forced a backline reshuffle. HOwever, with hooker Reese Guidry and wing/center Shane Wright back from injury, they also have some good news.

Around the Country in HS Rugby

What's happening around the country in Boys HS Rugby? Time for a nationwide rundown:

Belmont Shore’s win over Back Bay puts the Whales in control of the North Gold in Southern California. Shore plays a very tough Santa Monica team this weekend, but a lone bonus point will ensure 1st for Shore.

Santa Monica has a solid chance of bypassing Back Bay for 2nd, but both could be looking over their shoulders at South Bay, which finishes up their regular season this weekend against Santa Clarita.

In the South Gold, the Coastal Dragons finished off 5-1 and have clinched a playoff spot, but not 1st. Irvine and the San Diego Mustangs are both at 3-1, and the Wallabies are 2-2. The Mustangs lost a bit of a surprise result to Irvine 26-22. 

Fishers Makes a Mark with Win

Fishers logged an impressive victory in Indiana league play over the weekend, beating Brownsburg 22-19.

It was a good result for Fishers as the previous Indiana DI teams have joined the Super League. The score was close, but in fact Fishers was in much the better position to score through the game. They left some unclaimed points. For Brownsburg, not being able to practice during Spring Break didn't help them. For Fishers, they got to tour Ireland, taking a contingent of 35 players and 65 family members to play games and tour the country.

Fishers beat County Carlow 46-19 with Michael Nettleton, Mason Thomas, Angelo Howze, Jake Winkle, Nathan Gray, Seth Sontich, Tyler Denson, and Drew Schneider all scoring tries.

Belmont Shore Downs Back Bay in Rivalry Game

Belmont Shore U18s defeated Back May 31-21 in a meeting of undefeated teams in Southern California.

This heated rivalry game (Back Bay v Belmont Shore a SoCal Classic) was also for who would lead the SoCal Gold North.

Belmont Shore has a fast, athletic team, but Head Coach Ramsey Tuaua was quick to praise his opponents.

"Hats off to Head Coach Jeff Bonnett, his staff, and players for the tremendous challenge," said Tuaua. "They were a very worthy opponent. They came at us hard; they held their ground against us, and brought a furious defensive stance. Back Bay have always produce a competitive team to every contest. My sincere and utmost respect and appreciation for a clean game with respectful players with such class."

All Bunched at Top of Colorado HS League

It's all bottled up at the top of Rugby Colorado's league after this weekend's highest-profile games.

Undefeated East HS is undefeated no more, thanks to a torrid second half from the Palmer HS Terrors. Monarch HS also won, and so there are three teams at the top of the league with a 6-1 or 5-1 record - East, Palmer, and Monarch.

Against East, Palmer fell behind 13-0 and it looked as if East would cruise to victory, just as they had over Monarch, Regis Jesuit, and PAC in recent weeks. But Palmer coaches Scott Mears and Amy Rusert had a long talk with their players at halftime.

"We talked about getting back to the skills we had been working on," said Mears. "Pass, tackle, ruck - the basics. We needed to make sure we were first to the breakdown and that we were competitive at the breakdown."

RugbyWa Latest - Budd Bay Wins

Things are a little clearer in the Rugby Washington boys league after it's becoming clear two teams are struggling with numbers.

(Note - this article contains a significant correction, as Rugby Washington had mis-reported a score between Chuckanut and Seattle as a Seattle victory, when in fact it was a Chuckanut victory. At GRR, we don't have a massive staff to independently corroborate every score a league reports. If they get it wrong, we're often going to get it wrong as a result. We have fixed the score, and the standings, and the copy to reflect the new and more accurate information.)

West Valley Over Genesis in Utah

In a clash of undefeated teams in the Utah Youth Rugby HS club league, the West Valley Warriors down Genesis.

Both teams went into the game unbeaten, but it was the Warriors that came out on top 36-10. Leading the way up front were Tevita Tauvao, Willie Loktui, Omen Moeai, Tilu Tietia, and ST Nathan. 

West Valley's impressive backline included Bo Tupou, Logan Lutui, Lingi Pututau, and Daniel Loua. 

The result puts the Warriors in the driver's seat in the Utah HS club competition.

STA Over KC Jr. Blues

St. Thomas Aquinas of Kansas defeated the Kansas City Junior Blues in a local rivalry game 32-12 Saturday.

For Aquinas, it was an impressive victory, led by HS All American flanker and team captain Steven Rhode, who was a wrecking ball running through the KC defense. Rohde's running set up three tries for prop Clayton Ginther. The result was in part the fruit of a very successful tour of Ireland that Aquinas just completed.

"The tour was awesome," said Head Coach Tim Kluempers. "George does such a great job finding you the right games to play."

Boys HS Games April 12-16

We'd say this was a busy week in Boys HS rugby, except it's not.

Several leagues are taking the weekend off due to Easter; otherwise the list below would be about twice the size it is now.

Some matchups to look more closely at: 

Mountain View v Capital in Idaho. The winner still has a shot at 1st. The loser does not.

St. Ignatius v Xavier ... a non-league game between GRR's #4 and #3 single-school teams.