HS Boys

Compton Team Embraces Rugby

While the Southern California single-school 15s playoffs are being held, SoCal also held a 7s championships for emerging teams - Varsity Green.

The idea is to get players on the field, and not put the demands of roster size that 15s has, and so the teams learn the game in competition with 7s, and if there ever was proof that this is a good idea, you can find it at Centennial High School.

This season, Centennial HS in Compton, Calif. started a girls and a boys rugby team. With Centennial HS teacher Emo Pula, and her husband, Ian, coaching, they took a group of athletes who had never seen a rugby ball before and made them winners. In this school and this town which has a national reputation for being a pretty rough place to grow up, only one player on the boys team was familiar with rugby, Ian Pula, Jr., the coaches' son.

Gamebreakers HS Boys

Here are our Gamebreakers for this past week in Boys HS rugby.

Clay Reidy, St. Thomas Houston

The big St. Thomas lock forward was a source of power and strength for STHS as they beat Memorial.

Aadil Mehasanewala and Julian Nivar, North Raleigh

The Red Hawks flankers were a two-man wrecking crew for their team in a tight win over Clayton in North Carolina.

Joey Noble, Los Alamitos

A power-running Los Alamitos back, Noble scored three tries in his team's playoff win over San Pasqual.

Jayme Thomas, Jesuit (Sacramento)

Thomas scored a crucial early try, weaving through Danville defenders to do so, in a 20-11 victory over the rivals Oaks.

Christian Brothers Memphis Splits on New Orleans Trip

First, we have to admit we love going to New Orleans.  The teams we play, the beauty of City Park, and the spirit of camaraderie the coaches, referees, players, and supporters exhibit are unprecedented.  Both Brother Martin and Jesuit of New Orleans are class acts led by models of the culture and competitiveness of the game.  For us, this relationship is becoming a staple need in how we are able to move forward.  

Around Rugby Texas Latest

Rugby Texas had a relatively quiet weekend league-wise, but there were some interesting results nonetheless. 

We’ll have more on Timber Creek’s defeat of St. Pius X later. Woodlands hosted Aberdare from Wales, and beat the tourists 26-17. 

Overtime Drama as Torrey Pines Defeats Mira Costa

While one of the Southern California Varsity Red semifinal scorelines was relatively one-sided (La Costa Canyon Rolls to Varsity Red Final), the other, held Saturday night, was as tight as possible. 

Mira Costa took on Torrey Pines in a thriller that went the distance, and more. The Mustangs of Mira Costa, ranked #10 by Goff Rugby Report, and th Falcons of Torrey Pines, ranked #12, were evenly-matched, and showed it. On a very breezy night the Torrey Pines Falcons used the wind to their ad­vantage as each time they got inside the Mustangs half. Mira Costa got into repeated penalty trouble, and Torrey Pines kept putting those penalties over the bar.

Charlotte Catholic Defeats Georgetown

The Georgetown Prep Hoyas traveled from their Maryland home to North Carolina to square off against the Charlotte Catholic Cougars in a match up of perennially ranked single-school rugby teams,

Their JV and Varsity matches were the opening to a full day of five matches held at the Charlotte Rugby Club. Catholic’s JV saw its first action of the year taking home a win while the Varsity notched its 3rd win in as many weeks.

La Costa Canyon Rolls to Varsity Red Final

The Southern California Boys HS Varsity Red Division playoffs got going when the San Diego region #1 seed, La Costa Canyon, took on the LA region #2 St. John Bosco. 

Both teams were fortunate to have one of the nation's top referees, Nick Ricono, preside over the game.  It was clear from the beginning that St. John Bosco, who enjoyed a significant size advantage over LCC, intended using the big forwards as ball carriers as much as possible. The first ten minutes of the game was evenly balanced as both teams tested the opposition defense with hard straight running. It was LCC who struck first when Ian Tarr burst through the backline defense and scored under the polls (see highlight here). Nico Gilli made the conversion and LCC led 7-0.

Charlotte Tigers to 5-0 After Win Over Chapel Hill

The Charlotte Tigers improved to 5-0 and defeated a major rival in North Carolina, edging the defending state champion Chapel Hill Highlanders 15-10 Saturday.

Both teams were unbeaten going into this game, and the matchup lived up to expectations in a back-and-forth battle between two strong programs. Chapel Hill made it on the scoreboard first with a penalty goal when the Tigers infringed in the ruck near their 22. 

Aidan Gallagher slotted the kick with ease, and the Highlanders led 3-0. The Tigers matched that a few minutes later off a Highlanders penalty, and flyhalf Jack Williams put it over from a tough angle.

Jesuit, Danville Battle it Out

The Northern California rain subsided just enough for Jesuit of Sacramento to face off against the top-ranked HS club Danville Oaks Saturday.

In a defensive-minded, and very scrappy game, Jesuit ran out to first-half lead and held off a furious Danville comeback attempt to win 20-11.

Jesuit came out of the blocks playing some inspired defense. That pressure turned into points when captain Garrett Kay pounced on a mistake at the lineout to touch down just fifteen minutes into the match. Fullback Jayme Thomas punished a poor kick with a weaving run that left several defenders in his wake to score ten minutes later. Scrumhalf Carlos Ramirez converted that try and Jesuit led 12-0. It was those missed tackles that hurt Danville in the long run. 

SoCal Varsity White Latest - Semis

Southern California's Varsity White league is down to a final two as the semifinals were held this weekend.

University City edged Wilson High School in overtime, while Los Alamitos put San Pasqual to the sword 53-31 to make the Varsity White final.

The game was a high-scoring affair and both sides scored twice in the opening quarter of the game for a 12-12 tie. But then San Pasqual's Hunter Boyce left injured, and Los Alamitos scored three tries in the next ten minutes. San Pasqual's backline settled down, but the damage had been done.

"Their big guys played as expected, as did ours," said San Pasqual Coach Ray Steel, who led his team to their most successful season in the team's seven-year history. "We didn't stop them as often as we hoped and had practiced, but we kept going hard to the last minute."

North Raleigh Beats Clayton in NC

On a crisp Friday evening the North Raleigh Red Hawks set off to play the Clayton Copperheads in a North Carolina varsity matchup battle that has been going on ever since these two clubs first came up. Some would call it a rivalry.

The Red Hawks are truly a young team as they have four 9th graders playing for their varsity team this season: flanker Aadil Mehasanewala, scrumhalf, George O’Brien, lock Frank Lewis, and center Ben Watson. The future looks bright with these freshmen already playing varsity and continuing their rugby career over the next three years. The Red Hawks are led by their senior captain AJ Lanier.

Key injuries to Evan Thomas, Jackson Cranor, Tyler Gray, and Jonah Fanuef made the Red Hawks dig deep into the depth chart, bringing several players up from JV. 

Arizona Latest - Red Mountain Faces Test

Red Mountain may be 2-0 in Arizona, but that doesn't mean the five-time defending state champions are all that impressed with their performances.

Defeats of Tempe (50-20) and Arrowhead (34-19) got Red Mountain to 2-0, but this weekend against Ahwatukee will be a tougher game.

"They are a well-coached team and they play physical rugby," said new Head Coach Jared Baker. "We felt we had a small hiccup last week, not playing as physically as we have in the past. But our boys have been looking good."

MYRO Varsity Changes Mean Changes for Hendricken

For 18 years, Bishop Hendricken has been one of the strongest teams in the Massachusetts Youth Rugby Organization - problem is, they’re not in Massachusetts.

Located in Warwick, RI, the boys of Bishop Hendricken were one of the original teams to form MYRO, including rivals BC High, St. John’s, and Belmont High.

An all-boys high school, Hendricken routinely carries a roster of around 50 players, and they maintain a connection to the program with alumni, often having former students get a run with the current players during training.

Tough Start for Gregory the Great

Gregory the Great Academy starts their season off with a visit to defending national single-school champ and #1-ranked Gonzaga HS.

It’s a tough start, but Coach Garret van Beek has put his charges into this tough kind of start for a reason.

“We have an even mixture of returning and new starters for the Highlanders,” said van Beek. “We are excited to get out of Northeast Pennsylvania's cold and snowy conditions and play this coming weekend.”

For Gonzaga, they have a good number of returning players, and a challenging schedule, but there will be plenty of adjusting to do, said Coach Peter Baggetta.

“Hopefully we will grow as the year goes along,” said the coach.