HS Boys

Peninsula Green Keeps Winning

Peninsula Green continues to go from strength to strength in Northern California's DI Boys HS league, and finished the regular season undefeated after beating a tough North Bay team 43-12.

At the Man-of-the-Match ceremony after the game, North Bay Coach David Cingolani said: “This Peninsula Green team plays rugby as well as any high school team that I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of them from all parts of the United States and the World. You will beat Danville. You are coached by a great coaching staff and you are playing exciting rugby.” 

Heavy words from a former Cal star. 

Gamebreakers - HS Boys This Week

We didn’t do a Gamebreakers column last week - our apologies, sometimes it’s difficult to fit everything in - so here’s a list of players who made an impact for their high school teams over the last two weeks.

Josh Pane

The captain and No. 8 for St. Thomas thundered through defenses to lead the Houston-based team over New Jersey’s Delbarton.

Benji Creel

The big Jesuit-New Orleans prop is part of an imposing Blue Jays forward pack that set the tone for a defeat of rivals St. Paul’s.

St. Ignatius Starts Texas Trip With Win

Defending Rugby Ohio state champs St. Ignatius defeated St. Thomas of Houston, Texas 66-15 Monday in the first game of the Ohio team’s five-day, four-game tour of the Lone Star State. 

After a Spring Break trip themselves, St. Thomas wasn’t firing on all cylinders the day after Easter, and will need to be better when they take on Katy on Thursday in a crucial game with playoff implications. Both teams rested a couple of starters because of more games coming up.

Union Plays Two in Oregon

It was a quiet weekend in Rugby Oregon, but Union HS did get on the field, putting, as they usually do, two squad in competition.

The Union 2nd side tied Battle Ground 10-10, which was a very good result for the Union 2nds. The halfback combo of Parker Johnson and Austin Lewis played well against an experienced and physical Battle Ground team. 

Oddly, for Battle Ground, this was the team’s second-straight tie, as they now sit with the rare record of 0-0-2.

Santa Monica Notches Another Big Win

The Santa Monica Dolphins continued their unbeaten run by thumping Belmont Shore 52-0 this weekend in Southern California boys HS play. 

Belmont came into his game having finishing 2nd in the Santa Clarita Kickoff tournament and a decisive win over Empire in the league, but the Dolphins came into the game having just won the Fullerton Tournament and looking to go 4-0 in SoCal.

Cy-Fair Defeated Kingwood in Texas

Cy-Fair defeated Kingwood 43-19 this past weekend in Texas HS play. 

Kingwood has been slammed with injuries, including HS All American Dillon Shotwell, and was able to field only 18 for the game on Friday night. Meanwhile, Cy-Fair is starting to improve play, with new center Quinterlo Baker impressing observers with his speed and evasiveness.

Baker scored three tries in a powerful display.

Latest Scores - HS Boys

Latest games and scores from the weekend of March 23-27.

These scores will be updated.

Teams Making Moves in Washington

It’s a tight but somewhat surprising race for the top in Rugby Washington after the third week of games.

Eastside set down something of a marker with a 70-11 defeat of Kent, showcasing the Lions’ impressive backline attack. That put Eastside at 2-1 and smack in the middle of the race in a very tough league. Chuckanut won, as well, holding off a determined Seattle comeback to prevail 31-27. But all eye have to be on the Rainier Highlanders. Newly-promoted from DII, the Highlanders moved to 3-0 with a 20-13 defeat of Liberty.

Chuckanut’s game was a wild one. The Steamers steamed out to a 24-5 lead at halftime.

NorCal Premier Wraps - Danville 1st

The Northern California Varsity Premier regular season wrapped up Saturday with Danville defeating a tenacious Archbishop Riordan 49-26 and Mother Loda defeating Lamorinda.

With the bonus-point victory, Danville takes 1st in the regular season and is the #1 seed going into the semifinals. Jesuit takes second, Granite Bay 3rd, and Solo Falcons 4th. Danville's only loss was an opening-week defeat at the hands (or talons) of the Falcons, who started 4-0. But the Falcons have faltered somewhat near the end of the season, losing convincingly to Granite Bay and Jesuit to finish off the season.

Arizona Playoff Teams Getting Set

The top four teams in Rugby Arizona are close to being decided after a relatively full slate of games this weekend.

Red Mountain remains undefeated and clinched 1st with a forfeit win over numbers-stressed Old Pueblo. West Valley defeated Chandler United 24-10 to finish up the team's league season and clinch 2nd. 

The battle remained for 3rd and Desert Vista needed a win to secure that spot. Friday, Desert Vista slammed Phoenix 68-8.

"Our club has continued its path of improving each week," said Desert Vista Coach Roger Tushingham. "It's a young Phoenix team that never stopped playing, and they will be strong for years to come based off the strength of their youth program.  Our back play really clicked in this game from the first whistle. 

Lassiter Trojans Make Move in Georgia

Coming off of a victory against the 1st place Phoenix, the Trojans were eager to avenge an early season loss to the Titans in Rugby Georgia Boys HS league play. 

The winner of this match would all but secure 2nd place in the regular season standings with a slim chance to catch the Phoenix for the regular season crown.

Trojans flyhalf Freddie Purdy took up where he left off two weeks ago and converted two straight penalty kicks for an early 6-0 lead. Speedy first-year winger DeVonte’ Swann recovered a Purdy clearing kick downfield, broke through three Titan defenders, and raced 30 meters for the initial try of the match and an 11-0 Trojans lead.  The Trojans remained in control as junior prop Mohammed Abdullah took the ball in from five meters out to give the visitors for an 18-0 advantage.

Penn Rolls at Invitational

Penn HS hosted the Penn Invitational Saturday at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., with over 500 fans seeing 12 games played.

Penn dominated, as expected, with their Varsity, JV, and Freshman teams going 5-0. The Kingsmen scored 251 points while allowing 18 in the five games.

Here are the scores:

Aquinas Impresses with Shutout of Rivals

St. Thomas Aquinas of Kansas defeated their longtime cross-border rivals Kansas City Junior Blues 15-0 Saturday in wet, unpleasant conditions.

Aquinas struggled to get out of their own way a little bit in the first half, and entered the break up 3-0 thanks to a penalty goal from Sam Gasparovich. But, said Head Coach Tim Kluempers, it could have been more.

"We were up a man due to a yellow card, and we weren't smart with the ball, and tried to run it out of our own 22, and that just put us under a lot of pressure," said Kluempers. On the plus side, his team held the Blues out to keep their slim lead.

Herriman Defeats Lions

On a cold, snowy night in Herriman, the hosts overcame an early deficit to come out with an emphatic win over a talented Lions Academy squad.  

A spring snow hit the state hard earlier in the day, cancelling nearly all sporting events. With Herriman HS leaving on Spring Break the next day, however, it was imperative that the game be played if at all possible. Uncertainty early in the day changed to optimism as the skies cleared and the snow stopped about an hour before the 7pm kickoff. Freezing temperatures in the 20s coupled with after-work caucus voting, which took two hours in some locations, kept the crowd small, but those who braved the chilly air were treated to an entertaining game.