Back Bay v Belmont Shore a SoCal Classic
It's a clash of two 4-0 teams in Southern California this weekend as Belmont Shore faces Back Bay Saturday.
This is a rivalry of fairly epic proportions, as the two clubs have had many heated clashes not only at the high school level, but at the men's senior level, as well. Back Bay is 4-0 by virtue of a forfeit win over Los Angeles last week, a fairly comfortable victory over Santa Clarita, and two squeakers - 24-22 over South Bay, and 10-9 over Santa Monica.
Back Bay Wins Close One - SoCal Latest
Belmont Shore, at first glance, has looked a shade better, getting that forfeit win over Los Angeles, but also winning big over Santa Clarita and Empire. Last week they took on a very tough South Bay team and beat then 36-28.
St. Pius Makes Playoffs With Wild Finish
St. Pius X pulled off something of a shock result Thursday night, defeating the Katy Barbarians 17-15 on the final play of the game.
The result pushed St. Pius X to 6-3 and dropped Katy to 5-4 and ensured that both of those teams will be in the Rugby Texas playoffs. As a result, also, St. Thomas, a team St. Pius beat 10-0 earlier in the season, has been eliminated from the playoffs.
The result was a surprise in part because Katy had already beaten St. Pius this season, and St. Pius had entered a rough patch that also included a humbling 77-14 loss to Cy Fair two weeks ago. But that rough patch had also coincided with a spate of injuries that cost Pius seven starters. Of those, six were back for Thursday's game, and that made a huge difference in experience if nothing else.
West Allegheny Has Fun, Keeps Winning
West Allegheny is now 4-0 and leads the Rugby Pennsylvania Single School Blue Division.
Boys HS Club Rankings Week #12
Here is the latest Boys HS Club Rankings.
Not much happening with the top group, although Katy did lose and drops down. But there's a lot going on lower down. Belmont Shore jumps in after a win over South Bay. Ahwatukee comes back in. Washington is a complete confusion as Tacoma beat Liberty, which is still a strong team. Spring Break and HSAA callups can make it tough for some teams. Just about every team from Washington is in the Top 50, but we think this will shake out soon.
Big jump for the West Valley Warriors after their victory over United.
Gamebreakers HS Boys
We have two weeks of action for our latest Gamebreakers. Here's who impressed:
Nathaniel Turak, Rochambeau Roosters
Turak's goalkicking was the difference, as his team and the Maryland Exiles scored six tries each. By converting five of six tries, Turak helped the Roosters to a 40-34 victory.
Kieran Webb, Bayou HurricanesWebb played a strong game at prop for the Hurricanes as they capped off their torrid late charge to beat Jesuit New Orleans to make the Louisiana playoffs. Webb also scored a try, running in from 70 meters. |
Cumberland Valley Wins Again
Cumberland Valley won again, beating West Shore United in a midweek game and moving to 4-0 in the Rugby Pennsylvania Boys Club White division.
CV is actually a single-school team, but geography and logistics mean they're better off in the HS club league. Regardless, after beating West Shore 34-12, Cumberland Valley is now 4-0 having outscored league opponents 246-24.
CV played tough defense in the initial stages and took advantage of some ball handling errors by the West Shore backline to steal possession and claim an early try. Thereafter, West Shore did well to keep the ball close to their breakdown and used the pick-and-go repeatedly. In doing so, they maintained possession and starved CV of the ball.
Chargers Charged Up at Border Battle
It was a good weekend for the Wisconsin-based Chargers team, as they swept their four Border Battle games with Minnesota teams Eagan, Minnetonka, Edina, and Hopkins.
Chargers Head Coach Neil Mattek was especially gratified at how some newer players showed in place of some more experienced athletes.
"With a couple of forwards out due to spring break and prior commitments, we were able to start a couple of first year-guys," said Mattek. "We are blessed to be getting such great kids and great athletes. With 47 HS boys CIPP'd, training sessions have been ultra competitive. Established starters have been pushed very hard by some of our new athletes for starting spots. To the veterans' credit, they've responded positively and it's made for a very fun preseason."
Top-Ranked Teams Clash
Three of the highest-ranked high school teams converged on Xavier University in Ohio over the weekend to play a three-game series.
Gonzaga HS, the #2-ranked single-school team, Kansas City Junior Blues, the #7-ranked HS club team, and St. Ignatius, the #4-ranked single-school team, met up.
All coaches praise Xavier University’s hosting, from the facilities, to feeding the players, to washing the teams’ jerseys during the weekend, they stepped up in an impressive way.
The games, too, had much to recommend them.
Tour Sparks Monarch April Surge
Monarch High School moved to 5-1 in Rugby Colorado this week with a 28-12 defeat of previously unbeaten Palmer HS.
Jesuit NOLA, Bayou to Louisiana Final
The Jesuit New Orleans Blues Jays won big and the Bayou Hurricanes won bigger in the Louisiana Rugby semifinals, setting up a much-anticipated final in two weeks.
Jesuit of New Orleans defeated Brother Martin 34-5 in one semifinal. The teams had played earlier, with Jesuit winning a close one 19-10. But this time, it was all Blue Jays.
Ahwatukee, Red Mountain to Arizona Final
It will be Ahwatukee against Red Mountain in the Rugby Arizona state final after a both teams won semifinals this past weekend.
Ahwatukee struggled a bit in February and early March, losing games to the Blackbirds, Red Mountain, and Salpointe. But the last few weeks have seen the team bounce back a little, with a 34-24 win over Tempe their best showing and then a big victory over Arrowhead. Ahwatukee lost to the Blackbirds 41-34 on February 11, but showed a stronger defensive effort in winning 33-17 on Saturday.
Wing Chance Glover was named player of the game. He set up two first-half tries for Malachi Knox. New recruit Francisco Canales has added some size and physicality to the Ahwatukee forward pack, and with Jace Jenkins back in the threequarter line after injury, the Phoenix-area club is looking much improved.
Union Edges Newberg in Oregon
Two of the best single-school high school teams in Oregon met up this weekend, with defending champs Union holding off Newberg 32-31.
While it was a bit of a relief for Union to pull out the victory, it wasn't easy, and the result also shows that Newberg is a team to watch.
"The match was incredibly tough and, though I never communicate this to the boys, I wasn't sure we would pull it off," said Union Coach Lawrence Anderson.
Union is actually based in Camas, Wash., but the teams in southern Washington are much closer to Oregon opposition than they are to the rest of Rugby Washington's teams. So they play in Rugby Oregon, but that can cause some complications as high schools in Oregon and Washington have Spring Break at different times.
Cannibals Show Well at Rosslyn Park On and Off the Field
The Utah Cannibals played in the Rosslyn Park 7s, and showed well on the field, but it might well be how they carried themselves off it that will be remembered.
The Rosslyn Park 7s is the largest age-grade tournament in the world, and it started off this year under a cloud. On March 26, just before the tournament was to start, a terrorist killed four innocent people and injured dozens more near the Houses of Parliament in London. The attack shocked and saddened the people of Great Britain, and affected the visiting Utah rugby team, as well.
Quickly the team adopted black armbands to show their support for their hosts.
Okapi, STA Win in Florida
The Florida state High School final will be a rematch of the South Florida regional final, as both the Okapi Wanderers and St. Thomas Aquinas teams won semis on Saturday.
These two teams played on April 1 in the South Regional final, and Okapi won 26-24 on the final play of the game. The final next week promises to be a close one.
On this weekend, one of the semis was close. STA took on North winners Tampa, scored early, and ran out to a 12-0 lead. Tampa replied, and then STA replied to make it 17-5. Tampa kept coming and scored a try and a penalty, but STA held on 17-13.
West Valley Defeats United in Utah
The West Valley Warriors defeated United HS in impressive fashion on Saturday, taking down the perennial national contenders 59-26.
It was a solid performance all around by West Valley, and Head Coach Epoki Mahina said it was part of a rivalry that had run for years.
"These kids played each other in the 9th-10th-grade final a couple of years ago, and they're the same group of boys playing each other now," said Mahina. "They know each other. We started out fast and worked our game plan. We kept to that and we kept the momentum going and kept to our pattern."
The Warriors led 39-14 at halftime, and scored right after halftime, too. However, United didn't back down.
