MSIRL Latest - Ruggerfest Loads Up Results
The Mid-South Independent Rugby League (MSIRL) held 14 league games over the weekend at Carolina Ruggerfest.
The huge number of games in a short period of time revealed how the teams are stacking up against one another - in depth as well as quality. Three teams in the league emerged still undefeated and are leading the standings – Charlotte Catholic, Union County Lions, and the Charlotte Tigers.
Games were shortened for the Ruggerfest, but still counted as full league results. However, due to the short length of the games, the bonus point structure was adjusted - instead of a bonus point for four tries in a game, BPs were given for three tries instead.
Xavier Downs St. Joe's Prep
Xavier HS of New York City defeated St. Joe's Prep. of Philadelphia Saturday 42-14 in a season warmup game for both.
The game was played midway between the two teams in Cherry Hill, NJ. The match was played in frigid and windy conditions and the wind affected the flow of play. Both teams were inconsistent, but Xavier was able to find some rhythm in the second half to put across 5 tries after half time.
For Xavier, outside center Kevin Strehle scored two tries, while prop Brian Patterson, No. 8 Mike Queijo, fullback Damon Anderson, prop Alex Botwin, and wing Chase Rohal all touched down. The wind didn't help the kicking, however, and they got just the one conversions from Kevin Strehle.
Jesuit Sacramento Downs Christian Brothers
Led by flyhalf Brian Bauer and the hard running (and soft hands) of prop Joe Marchant, the Jesuit Marauders overcame crosstown rivals Christian Brothers 47-14 over the weekend.
While many teams used the Vegas weekend to take a break, Jesuit was able to field a solid team that dominated play for long stretches.
Flanker Donovon Horst led the way with a brace of tries, but backs and forwards were interchangeable in open play. Wings Dom Mazzoni and Ben Skinner scored after multi-phase rugby put them into space. Front row partners Andrew Marsh and Eric Cervantes both touched down to score. Bauer dictated the attack with center partners Mason La Fond and John Bickel running hard and putting in some big hits on defense. Captain Ryan Merz led from the front with some solid work at the breakdown.
Cy Fair Upsets Katy in Texas
CyFair HS logged a relative upset in Rugby Texas league action with a 17-7 win over Katy this weekend.
Katy was without team captain and HS All American Josh Schnell, who was playing for the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy team that won the HS Elite 7s in Las Vegas. And the loss of prhaps Katy's best player certainly didn't help.
EIRA U16s Win LVI U16 Bracket
The Eagle Impact Rugby Academy took the Boys U16 bracket at the Las Vegas Invitational, beating Atlantis U16s 38-5 in the final.
EIRA looked somewhat vulnerable in Friday's pool play. While they defeated Utah Academy 36-5 and Saints 7s 48-7, they also lost to Cobra, and it was Cobra, not EIRA, that won Pool B. In Pool A, Atlantis edged Utah Cannibals by four points, Upright Rugby by two, and Tennessee Tri Stars by five to go a very tight 3-0. British Columbia rolled to win Pool C.
In th quarterfinals on Saturday, Cobra defeated the Cannibals 19-12, 31-7, Atlantis handled Upright 27-12, and BC blew out the San Diego Selects 44-0. So that set up the semis, and Atlantis handled BC, while EIRA rebounded from that earlier loss to Cobra to win in a shutout 43-0.
Boys HS Games March 3-5
Here's a very busy weekend in Boys HS rugby.
We've got the Carolina Ruggerfest and the MSIRL active in there.
Carolina Ruggerfest A Massive Celebration of Youth and HS Rugby
Ruggerfest Big Weekend for MSIRL
We've got Rugby Washington starting up. Rugby Washington Season Kicks Off
We've got the MAPL continuing after a tumultuous last weeked: MAPL Teams Look to Big Weekend
Rugby Washington Season Kicks Off
The Rugby Washington boys HS season kicks off this weekend.
This remains one of the most competitive high school leagues in the country. Two season ago Budd Bay finished 5-5 in the regular season and then ran through the playoffs to win the state title. Last year, the Rainier Highlanders won a year after being in DII.
This year, the Highlanders are looking to repeat, but any of the seven teams in DI - Budd Bay, Eastside, Liberty, Chuckanut, Rainier, Seattle, or Tacoma could win the state title.
Below, Rainier's Josh Hutchins tells fans how the Highlanders think they can repeat. (If you don't see the embedded video, please refresh the page).
MAPL Teams Look to Big Weekend
The second weekend of the Mid-Atlantic Premier League is set with all six teams in action.
On Saturday, Gonzaga hosts Downingtown in what will be Downingtown’s first MAPL game and Gonzaga’s third. Gonzaga will be looking to rebound from an update loss to Doylestown, while Downingtown has high hopes for this season in the MAPL and in Pennsylvania.
On Saturday night under the lights West End hosts West Shore United in Springfield, Va. West End looking to get on the winning side after playing Gonzaga last weekend. West Shore United got slammed by Fort Hunt but should expect a stronger showing.
The Fort Hunt Warriors are hosting the Doylestown Dragons on Sunday, March 5. A fast paced, intense match is expected amongst these two teams that want to play and win at the next level.
LVI Boys Open 7s Latest
It's Day Two of the Boys Open 7s at the Las Vegas Invitational
So far, Atlantis looked very strong on Day One, going 3-0 in pool play, but we shocked 26-17 in thw quarterfinals by Belmont Shore (remember we mentioned earlier last week how the talented Centennial HS team had a couple of players augment the Belmont team?). Belmont Shore actually have three teams in this competition, and it's the Belmont Blue team which is through to the semis after a very tough 3-0 run on Thursday.
Ruggerfest Big Weekend for MSIRL
Eight of the nine teams in the Mid-South Independent Rugby League (MSIRL) will compete in MSIRL games at the Carolina Ruggerfest.
Charlotte Catholic is the last team to log a game in the cross-border competition, and will get four games in this weekend. All of the Ruggerfest games are shorter than the normal 70 minutes, but will be counted as regular games in the MSIRL standings.
Here are the current standings:
Carolina Ruggerfest A Massive Celebration of Youth and HS Rugby
At last count 63 teams from 12 states representing nearly 40 clubs and schools will be playing a total of 104 matches this weekend at the 14th annual Carolina Ruggerfest held near Charlotte, NC.
Tournament Commissioner Erik Saxon said just about every level of youth rugby will be represented there.
“Back when this festival first started, we had a few high school teams from up north come and play some pre-season matches against a few high school teams from down here to take advantage of our warm weather and great facilities – we’re talking 6 to 10 teams total. Fast forward to now, we have that many teams attending in just our Under 10 bracket alone.”
Monarch Shakes Up Colorado
The Rugby Colorado season has barely started and already there’s been a shakeup, as previous DII team Monarch HS defeated defending DI champs Regis Jesuit 19-15.
It is most certainly early days, but the result has made people take notice.
Monarch was one of the top DII teams in 2016, making the final before losing to Palmer HS, but Colorado’s DII is actually very competitive, and moving up was not a worrying prospect for the team.
Abdullah - Playing for South Best Rugby Decision
He may be a prop, but he’s a prop who can run, and Muhammed Abdullah’s considerable skill will be on display as the East Cobb Trojan suits up for the USA Rugby South 7s team at the LVI this week.
For Abdullah, who was on the USA U19 roster over the New Year and played for the USA South U19s that won the Rugby Americas North championship last summer, this is just another step on what is becoming an impressive journey.
“The South Program is incredible,” Abdullah told Goff Rugby Report. “The coaches make you enjoy practice and teach you more than just rugby. I give a lot of credit to Mark Williams, RJ [Randall Joseph], and Coach Dan (Pretorius); they have been great role models and taught me so much on and off the field.”
EIRA Player Spotlight - Mavaeganailetai Roberts
Los Alamitos High School may have benefited from a group of kids who played with North Bay, but even so, it’s quite the story that in the team’s first year, they won the Southern California Varsity White championship.
It was an impressive team effort from this program, but there’s nothing wrong with noticing the odd individual performance, and it’s pretty hard to ignore sophomore prop forward Mavaeganailetai Roberts. All he did, in a game won in the closing seconds, was score four tries.
