Gonzaga Gets by Xavier in a Classic
In a clash of two of the top single-school teams in the country, #3 Gonzaga defeated #1 Xavier on dramatic fashion.
Okapi Wins Florida South on Final Play
Okapi Wanderers won the Florida Region 2 Boys HS championship Saturday, scoring on the final play of the game to edged St. Thomas Aquinas 26-24.
In a game that was certainly closer than Okapi expected, St. Thomas could not be shaken, and in fact led with time almost up.
“They had a good plan to disrupt our flow and executed that pretty well,” said Okapi Head Coach Gavin McLeavy. “Our guys kept at it.”
St. Thomas led 24-21 late in the game, and in fact the Okapi coaches through time was up. However, the referee said there was time enough for the restart. Okapi kicked off, won the ball, and worked their way slowly down to the St. Thomas line. And then, finally, wing Agustin Hays, on as an impact sub, where he’s been effective all season, slid over for the try.
That was it, no time left, and Okapi had won.
Wando Wins SC DI and DII
Wando High School took home two state championships Saturday as their varsity side took the South Carolina DI title, and the 2nd side won the DII final.
Westlake Wins Battle with Lake Travis
Westlake HS defeated Lake Travis Thursday night in a meeting of two teams 5-0 in league play in Rugby Texas Boys HS action.
The two teams were unbeaten in the Rugby Texas Central division going into this game. Westlake won 29-8, but Head Coach Jason Spodick said the game was much closer than the score might indicate. Lake Travis actually led 8-5 in the first half, and the score was only Westlake 15 Lake Travis 8 at halftime.
"Lake Travis is a real good team," said Spodick. "They put up a real good fight, and they figured out our lineouts by halftime, so we scrummed whenever we could. We also needed to keep the tempo up because they were very big, and we did that."
Boys HS Games March 28-April 2
Here are the games for this weekend in Boys HS rugby.
Some games to note:
Gonzaga v Xavier on Saturday, a clash that could push Gonzaga closer to #1 or solidify Xavier's #1 status.
United v Herriman in another non-league clash of titans in Utah.
West Valley v Kau Toa in Utah. If Kau Toa wants to rebound, it's time.
Jesuit v Granite Bay in Northern California. A big chance for Granite Bay to make a move.
Wando v South Greenville. The South Carolina final.
The Florida Regional Finals ... both games should be close.
St. Ignatius Goes 3-0 in France
St. Ignatius of Ohio is on tour in France, and finished the trip with a 3-0 record.
Ignatius began the trip with a 29-10 victory to Sporting Club Universitaire de France. It was a smart and savvy SC Universitaire team, and Ignatius struggled with some laws interpretations. As a result, penalties hurt them, and they saw little ball, but managed to make it work when they got it.
The next two teams were expected to be stronger, but Ignatius started to adjust. On Monday, Ignatius took down Lycee Albert Sorel in in Normandy, 17-12. And in the final match of the tour they beat RC Courbevoie 29-14.
Ignatius gets no rest as once they come back from the tour they will face the Kansas City Jr. Blues and Gonzaga HS in quick succession. Then they take on Xavier in New York and Royal Irish a week later.
Culver Military Academy Tours South America
Rugby Indiana team Culver Military Academy is on tour in South America and already the team has played two games and enjoyed some special experiences.
In its 14th year playing rugby, and 9th as a varsity program, Culver Academy will play in Rugby Indiana's Super League North this year. The tour of Argentina, organized by Varsity Travel and Augustin Oulton, is a perfect warmup for the challenging league season.
Bearden Makes Statement in Tennessee
Bearden made an early-season statement in Tennessee's Smoky Mountain Conference with a 38-12 defeat of South Doyle.
South Doyle has been one of the top teams in the state for years, and Bearden has been chasing them for a while. They caught them this past weekend.
"It was a very intense game," said Bearden Coach Logan McNeil. "These two teams have a fierce rivalry. In 7s in the fall we traded wins back and forth. Then in the state tournament ended up tying each other the last time we played. South Doyle always has hard runners, but our defensive structure held throughout the game. Defense is what won us the game."
South Doyle spent long periods of the game in the Bearden end, punishing some Bearden errors to get there. However, the Bearden defense held firm.
Gamebreakers HS Boys
With teams active all over the country, we've got plenty of candidates for standout players for the week. Here's our latest list:
Email us here to nominate a Gamebreaker.
Patrick McTiernan, Greenwich HS
A co-captain for Greenwich, McTiernan scored three tries in a defeat of Fordham Prep.
Jack Manzo, Xavier HS
The Xavier hooker was named player of the game in a victory over Doylstown.
Vili Wolfgramm, Genesis
Wolfgramm scored a try and was overall effective from the fullback position in a close win over East HS.
Back Bay Wins Close One - SoCal Latest
It's about as close as you could imagine in the Southern California North Gold division.
Back Bay is 3-0, but beat South Bay by the slim margin of 24-22 on March 18, and then got by Santa Monica 10-9 this past weekend.
"We can't win by any less," said Back Bay Head Coach Jeff Bonnett. "If games get any closer we're not winning anymore!"
The results are actually a fair reflection of the competitive balance in that HS club league. Santa Monica and Back Bay have a long-standing rivalry, but South Bay is still in good position to come out of that region and make a splash. South Bay is mostly what was the Los Alamitos single-school team that won the Varsity White division in the winter.
Texas Latest - Playoffs Loom
Katy defeated St. Pius X 40-0 to improve t0 4-2 and sit 2nd in the West. Cy-Fair won by forfeit and it 5-1. St. Thomas won a crucial result 48-17 over Lamar, and 3-4 in the East, 2nd behind the Woodlands (5-0), whose game with Kingwood was rained out.
Louisiana Latest - Jesuit Wins, Sets Up Finale
Jesuit New Orleans defeated Brother Martin this past weekend, and the Bayou Hurricanes won via forfeit to put both teams at 4-0 with one week to go in the Rugby Louisiana regular season.
The two teams will meet up next week to decide who is 1st, and finalize the playoff matchups. Brother Martin drops to 2-2 and St. Paul's sits at 1-3 - those two will play for the final playoff spot. the NOLA Barbarians, which had to bow out of this week's game with the Hurricanes because most of the team was down with the flu, sits at 2-3 and will be in the playoffs regardless.
KC Jr Blues Win Hooligan Cup, Chargers Show Well
Kansas City Junior Blues won the Tulsa Hooligan Rugby Tournament Sunday, defeating the Chargers out of Wisconsin 20-13 in the final.
Oregon Latest - Union 2-0 and Others Strong Too
Union HS out of Oregon moved to 2-0 in Rugby Oregon action with a 51-19 defeat of Prairie Saturday.
This follows on from 32-0 shutout of Lincoln in the league opener last week. Union was paced last week by sophomore prop Joshua Barber, who scored three tries and was player of the game. The Union forwards looked solid throughout.
"Against Prairie we were much sharper and stuck to our structures and our game plan," said outgoing Head Coach David Curle.
Captain and scrumhalf Max Burchett has been a smart leader and organizes the attack. Already a very light team, Union lost their two starting props to injury before the season, forcing the coaches to shift things around. Curle said he remembered seeing a very light-looking English select side come play in the Pacific Northwest, and swarm the PNW team that hosted them. He decided to emulate that.
Mustangs Over Dragons in SoCal
Spice up an already intense rivalry by ranking both teams in the GRR HS Club Top 10, and you get Saturday’s thrilling see-saw affair that saw the #7 San Diego Mustangs defeat the #10 Coastal Dragons, 26-17.
The Dragons kicked off, and within three minutes took advantage of a Mustang penalty to drive deep and put lock Tre Stigall over for the try. Scrumhalf Nico Gilli made the conversion.
The 7-0 score meant the Mustangs were trailing for the first time in five matches this season.
A missed penalty kick by the Dragons nearly 20 minutes in let the Mustangs off the hook a little bit, especially as they were dealing with the first of two yellow cards on the day. When the game was done, San Diego would have six times (36:6) the penalties called on the Dragons.
