Indiana HS Super League Opens
In a tight Indiana Super League game, Penn HS outlasted Notre Dame De La Salette to win 38-24 Saturday.
The teams were tied 24-24 at half-time, but Penn was the stronger in the second half, scoring two tries, having two more called back, and holding their Illinois-based rivals scoreless.
Harry Stevens scored three tries and converted those plus tries from Satchel Carnine and Austin Laughman. Steven added a penalty kick to record 28 points all on his own.
Also in the Indiana HS Super League, Royal Irish opened their account with a tough 31-21 defeat of Brownsburg.
NorCal MS Semis Set
The semifinalists for the Northern California Boys multi-school division are set as Granite Bay, Hayward, and Peninsula Green all won Saturday.
Those three join Danville, who had a bye, into the Sunday’s semifinals.
Granite Bay defeated North Bay 57-33. GB was able to rest a few players for Sunday and still ran in an impressive number of tries. Wesley Chock put in a player-of-the-game performance for Granite Bay.
Hayward defeated Davis 58-17, with scrumhalf Naima Fualaau having a superb game, scoring three tries and setting up virtually every other score. The dynamic halfback was working behind a solid front eight, with two flankers relatively new to the sport having a good day - Eric Tafeamalii and Vili Paea. Hooker Ben Gomez Giron was active all over the field, while flyhalf Tevita Mailau had one of his best days kicking for points.
Four-Peat for Red Mountain
Red Mountain capped an undefeated season in Arizona as they beat Scottsdale 47-19 Saturday.
In a physical, hard-nosed game, Red Mountain controlled the pace for much of the first half and took a 26-7 lead into the break.
Scottsdale started to pick up their game after that and they battled in the breakdown. No. 8 Ofa Maafu was a force running with the ball and also played good defense. He combined well with his younger brother, Nafi.
Two tries from Scottsdale to one from Red Mountain made it 33-19, and gave Scottsdale hope. But a Ryan Hakes try put the game out of reach and secured Red Mountain's fourth-straight state title.
Jesuit Ekes Out NorCal Title
Jesuit HS of Sacramento won the Northern California single-school title Saturday as expected, but it wasn’t anywhere near as comfortable as expect.
Jesuit had to come from behind to beat Dixon 17-15 Saturday morning in Rio Linda, Calif.
Stung by a series of penalties, mostly in and around the ruck, Jesuit had a tough time getting anything going. The teams changed ends tie 7-7 and then Dixon scored a penalty and a try to lead 15-7.
But led by solid games from lock Robert Paylor, and with scrumhalf Blake Xavier having a solid game, Jesuit because to come back. Xavier had already scored a try, and then helped set up backs captain Chris Baydeline for a try. Both of those were converted by Baydeline, who then also added a penalty to seal the victory.
Ranked Teams Everywhere in NorCal Playoffs
The road to a HS championship in Northern California begins this weekend as nine teams play for two top-level championships.
Jesuit will take on Dixon in the NorCal Varsity Gold single-school final Saturday morning at 9am at the Cherry Island Sports Complex in Rio Linda.
Gonzaga Faces Xavier
Two of the top single-school boys HS teams meet up Saturday when Gonzaga takes on Xavier.
Xavier is fresh off a tour to California where they played some stiff SoCal opposition plus New Plymouth out of New Zealand.
Gonzaga is fresh off winning the Jesuit Classic.
SoCal Boys Playoffs Begin
Southern California’s second HS season comes to a close over the next three weeks, with two divisions of quarterfinals starting this week.
The SoCal U18 club season has been split into Gold and Green conferences, with the Tri-Counties conference straddling the two.
Florida Semis Exciting Matchups
The top four teams in Florida get cut down to two Saturday with the state semifinals.
Naples takes on Weston in one semi. The Bears finished their South Pool #1 season undefeated at 6-0, scoring about 27 points a game and allowing just under ten. Their 26-14 win over Key Biscayne to finish off the season was just about average, but a nice, crisp defeat of their closest rivals.
What Naples does well in part is use the boot to control field position. Flyhalf Brandon Roklea did that superbly against Key Biscayne - a team that can kick a little, too. With their lineout functioning well they can use the boot to keep up the pressure.
Ankeny Hawks Lead Unique Iowa League
It’s Friday Night 7s time in Iowa as the Iowa Youth Rugby Association runs their Boys High School league in a way that is unique in the country.
High School players in Iowa play 7s. The teams are split into single-school squads, and play a series of game nights where each team plays two games. The standings are kept and the teams are eventually seeded for a final tournament in May.
Georgia State Semis Saturday
The Georgia Boys High School state championships kick off Saturday with the chance for a shakeup in the hierarchy.
Defending champions Alpharetta Phoenix, who have long been the strongest team in the state, will play Mill Creek in the semis, while the Lassiter Trojans, who beat Phoenix, and everyone else, on the road to an undefeated league season, will play the Norsemen. Phoenix and Trojans are strong favorites to meet in the final next weekend in a repeat of last year's game, which was won by Phoenix. But the Trojans shocked a few by beating Phoenix earlier, although there's reason to believe Phoenix was hit by some inuries at the time. Certainly both look to be at full strength this weekend.
Plenty of Talent in NorCal Varsity Silver Playoffs
It’s playoff time for Boys HS teams in Northern California, with 27 teams playing in some sort of championships playoff at the Cherry Island Sports Complex in Rio Linda.
Sixteen more boys teams play in an open division.
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Maryland International Youth Festival This Weekend
The Maryland Exiles will be hosting the Maryland International Youth Festival this coming weekend at the campus of Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md.
Thirty-four boys teams in four divisions will compete, and 14 girls teams will also play.
Heading up the list will be Rugby Maryland league leaders North Bay and Maryland Exiles, who tied each other earlier this season. North Bay has very impressive and just recently thumped Frederick County. Maryland has been keeping pace, but have run into a little more difficulty in each game.
Meanwhile, West End out of Virginia also will be on the field, having beaten Warrenton, Prince William, and NOVA so far.
BC High to 3-0 in Massachusetts
Boston College High laid down a marker Wednesday with a 20-7 defeat of previously unbeaten Belmont High to move to 3-0 in Massachusetts Youth Rugby Boys DI league play.
In a physical, intense game, BC High got the better of the breakdowns, and that proved to be the difference. Belmont was plagued with penalty problems in the rucks, but still kept it code until the very end.
Gamebreakers - HS Boys This Week
Here’s a look at some of the gamebreakers from this past week in Boys HS rugby.
Deep South Final Set
Wednesday evening saw the Deep South HS rugby conference hold its semifinals, with undefeated St. Paul’s taking on New Orleans Jesuit, and Archbishop facing Mississippi.
St. Paul’s had run the table in league play on the back of a stingy defense and an impressive wide game. The program, only in its second year, is athletic and playing well together. They showed this once more, defeating Jesuit 31-17.
