Tight Games the Norm for Pa SS Teams
It seems like it's a tight league in Rugby Pennsylvania's Single-School leagues (they have three, Red, White, and Blue), and this is especially true in the White, where two games each came down to a single point.
In one, Cumberland Valley, the defending state champs, won 18-17 over Conestoga. In the other, Unionville edged Bishop Shanahan 25-24.
South Doyle Takes Lessons Forward
South Doyle limped out of the Jesuit Classic battered but smiling and turned around with a new group of players to beat Maryville Tuesday evening 47-25 in SMAC league play.
The Tennessee team enjoyed some interesting and different competition at the Jesuit Classic, beating Fairfield Prep 19-0, tying West Shore 12-12, losing to top-ranked Gonzaga 39-0, and then fading thanks to injuries and fatigue in the 3rd/4th game 39-19 to West Shore.
Head Coach Matthew Lance said his team learned a lot, especially how to use the scrum cadence to your advantage when packing down.
Cougars Reaching Higher in KC
After losing a close game to the Kansas City Cougars out of Shawnee Mission, Kan., St. Thomas Aquinas bounced back with a 54-7 defeat of Park Hill South this past weekend.
STA led 40-0 at halftime, and, with an eye toward developing depth for the Boys NIT in May, Head Coach Tim Kluempers subbed in as many as he could.
We bounced back from the worst rugby game my team every played vs Shawnee Mission Northwest and beat Parkhill South 54 to 7. We were up 40 to 0 at half and I subbed out 9 guys to bloody more players to get ready for Nationals.
State Semis in Arizona
Arizona held its DI and DII Boys HS semifinals this past weekend.
In DII, Old Pueblo defeated Hamilton in a game that was tight early on but Old Pueblo ran away with it late to win 50-24. The second semifinal was a lot closer, with North Valley, only a year removed from playing in the DII final, facing new team East Valley. North Valley prevailed 27-22.
In DI, undefeated Red Mountain faced El Mirage. Red Mountain scored in the first two minutes and never looked back. They led 41-0 at halftime and scored 43 more to get to the team's 5th straight state final.
Pelham Wins League Opener
In their first league game as a varsity sport, the Pelham HS rugby team defeated a solid Fordham Prep squad 40-22.
It was a tight and, at times, very fractious game, but one Pelham was up for as they enter into their first U18/high school league effort. The Pelham program was built from the ground up with middle-schoolers - the program fielded older and older teams as the original players grew up.
Cumberland Valley Wins Dramatic RugbyPa Clash
Cumberland Valley had all sorts of problems with Rugby Pennsylvania rivals COnestoga and needed a last-second penalty goal from flyhalf Alex Spenceley to win Sunday's game 18-17.
This game was a rematch of the 2014 state semifinal won by Cumberland Valley. Both teams entered the match undefeated in league play.
Conestoga jumped out to an early 7-0 lead with a nifty lineout move five meters from the goalline two minutes into the match. A Spenceley penalty put Cumberland Valley on the board midway through the first half to make it 7-3. Conestoga replied, quick-tapping after they were awarded a free kick from a feeding-the-scrum infraction. That led to a try, and then a Conestoga penalty led to a quick-tap from Cumberland Valley and a try. Conestoga led 12-8 at halftime.
La Salette Impressive in Win
Notre Dame De La Salette claimed an impressive victory over the weekend as the Illinois school that plays in Indiana defeated Chicago's Brother Rice 45-0.
La Salette went into the game ranked #11 by Goff Rugby Report, with Brother Rice at 38. On a sunny day on The Lawn in Georgetown, Ill., the Lions dominated. Juniors Joseph Brauner and Matthew Fonte scored two tries each, while Michael Carlisle was 5-7 on conversions.
The Lions are now 4-0 and will face annual rival Penn in Elkhart, Ind., next week.
This was the first game for Brother Rice after Spring Break and it might have taken them a while to get back on track. Meanwhile, the La Salette defense held quite nicely - something Head Coach Josh Hayes was concerned about because his La Salette team is usually the one with the ball.
Granite Bay Wins NorCal Clash of Undefeateds
Granite Bay defeated Jesuit HS 29-25 Friday night in a game between the top two teams in Northern California’s Varsity Gold Sacramento conference.
This is the region’s high school club competition, which Jesuit plays in as well as the single-school competition. Jesuit fielded their set, available team from a squad that has been hit by some injuries in the backline. Granite Bay, with the victory, improved to 7-0 and took a #1 seed into the NorCal playoffs next week.
United Holds Off Olympus in Utah
United, ranked #10 in HS clubs, and Olympus, ranked #12 among single schools, met Saturday in Utah Youth Rugby action, and played a hard, competitive non-conference match.
Fallbrook Wins Conference
Fallbrook clinched the South Gold conference in Southern California with a 43-20 defeat of the San Diego Young Aztecs Saturday.
Fallbrook was just coming off an instructive loss of 71-7 to Westlake HS of New Zealand, a game that had its positive moments but was a humbling experience to the Southern California team.
“We challenged them in short spurts, but we could not keep up with the pace of the way they play for 70 minutes,” said Head Coach Mike Majewski. “But we fought through the whole match and still played rugby. Today we had them show up 90 minutes before the game to stretch out and get read, and every player was on time.”
That commitment has been a big part of Fallbrook’s success this year. And they needed that commitment.
“It was hot, and we had to dig deep. The Young Aztecs are a good team,” said Majewski.
Around the Country in HS Rugby This Week
Some big, big games this weekend in Boys HS rugby. Here’s a look at some of the matchups and why they’re compelling.
Washington
Every game is important in this league where there’s little difference between first and last in the six-team DI league. But first remains Liberty (ranked #8 multi-school team by Goff Rugby Report), who beat Kent (MS#50) 40-25 earlier this week. Budd Bay (MS#48) is now in second place thanks to Kent’s loss, and has an excellent shot at solidifying that position with a home game against 2-4 Eastside. Seattle (tied with Kent at MS#50) can jump out of 6th with a win over Chuckanut.
