Union Keeps Winning in Oregon
Union HS solidified their place at the top of Oregon’s single-school boys league with an emphatic 62-19 defeat of Lincoln Saturday.
With the victory Union is 4-0 with 14 standings points - teams in Oregon play periodic shortened round-robin games, which count for half points, and Union has won two regular-length games (8 points), two round-robin games (4 points) and two addition ref points.
Union’s 2nd team - they have 39 players on the roster, all from Union HS - is also unbeaten.
Seattle Win Highlights Tight Wash. League
Who knows how it will all end up in Washington, but the boys high school league in the Evergreen State seems to be as tight as any in the nation.
In last place going into this weekend, the defending state champions, Seattle, fell behind 26-7 to Kent before turning it all about and scoring four unanswered tries in the second half to win. HS All American Will Brennan scored an early try that woke the Vikings up, and scored another later, while Connor Miller scored the winner with ten minutes left.
Lambs School Loggers
The English Lambs learned their lessons against their Northern California opponents and showcased what they’d learned on their West Coast tour with a 62-13 defeat of the Washington state Loggers select side.
The Lambs, the English independent schools select team, had been beaten by Northern California, especially in the contact area, and then struggled to beat Jesuit of Sacramento. But against the Loggers they moved the ball extremely well, staying away from the tight stuff and looking for space instead. It worked.
Key Win for Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs defeated PAC 22-5 this weekend in Rugby Colorado league play and it was a big win for the Grizzlies as they try to claw their way back to the top of the DI league.
With the victory, Colorado Springs is now tied with East HS at 4-1 in the Boys HS DI league.
“We had to keep the momentum going,” said Colorado Springs Coach Otis McGregor, whose team also beat Chaparral 97-0 on the previous Wednesday. “We knew we were behind in the standings.”
This was the Tab Hicks Memorial game, played annually to remember the former Colorado Springs coach who died of cancer. The game is held on the team’s last home game of the year, and this year the Grizzlies remember their old coach playing a team they’d never faced before.
Dixon Claims NorCal SS Final Spot
Jesuit has an opponent for the NorCal Single-School championship, as Dixon upended Clayton Valley 33-19.
The result was revenge for Dixon, who had lost 29-24 to Clayton Valley on February 21. With the victory, Dixon bypassed Clayton Valley on total standings points to take 2nd among all single-school teams in Northern California, and will play top team Jesuit in the final in two weeks.
“We were too quick for them at the breakdown,” said Dixon Coach Rob Salaber. “They played well and fought hard until the end, but we tend to be a better team toward the end of the season.”
Arizona Playoff Matchups Set
The playoff matchups for the Arizona Youth Rugby boys hs division are set after this weekend's results.
In the key game, Scottsdale played El Mirage in a matchup that would decide who has to play three-time defending state champions, Red Mountain, and who avoids them. Scottsdale pulled away late 39-31 to win. Desert Vista, looking to finish in the top four won a crucial decision 36-24 over Old Pueblo in Tucson. Red Mountain, meanwhile, had a make up game Friday night against East Valley and won 74-7, and then played Hamilton a day later and won 91-0, capping off an undefeated league season.
Red Mountain will play El Mirage next Saturday at 10am and Scottsdale will play Desert Vista at the same time for a spot in the State Championship game. The final will be played as a curtain-raiser to Arizona State's second annual Rugby Bowl game on April 18.
Warriors Turn Heads in Utah
After losing a close one to Herriman and then beating Kau Toa, the West Valley Warriors of Utah produced yet another big result Saturday as they beat United 22-19.
David Lutui scored two tries for the Warriors while Sione Houma and ST Nathan each scored one. This followed on from a 54-5 crushing of previous Goff Rugby Report #10 HS club Kau Toa, in which nine different Warriors scored tries. United was ranked #9 by GRR this week.
All of that followed on from their March 14 loss to Single-School #9 Herriman, 36-29.
With the victory, West Valley is now 2-0 in the Timpanogos Conference in Utah Youth Rugby’s HS club competition, with United (2-1) still ahead due to bonus points.
HS Boys Games This Weekend
It's a relatively quiet weekend in Boys HS rugby this weekend as Easter cuts into the schedule, but there are a couple of games of note.
One has already happened, as Dixon's win over Clayton Valley in Northern California means they face Jesuit for the NorCal Single-School title.
Longtime rivals in the Kansas City area, KC Jr. Blues and St. Thomas Aquinas, meet up in a non-conference game Saturday.
Colorado Springs and PAC will meet up in Colorado in a battle of two teams hoping to haul in East HS. It's a full slate in Oregon and Washington, with top teams such as Union (Ore.) and Liberty (Wash.). Beaverton and Linn-Benton are both undefeated and they play in a round-robin with 0-4 Columbia County.
Arizona
Big Early Win for Belmont in Mass.
Wednesday saw two of the stronger Boys HS teams in Massachusetts get on the field as Belmont HS ran past Bishop Hendricken 29-5.
This was a rematch of the state finals in 2013 and 2014, which the two teams split, and the first 15 minutes saw plenty of open play and physicality and each team tried to establish superiority.
Belmont threatened first, putting together a good sequence of phase play. But Bishop Hendricken got the ball back and attacked close to the Belmont line. But a nice interception from senior Peter Durkin, a basketball player turned flyhalf turned second row, ended that attack.
Finally someone got on the board when Belmont attacked from a scrum, and the ball was moved quickly to Campbell who chipped the ball over the defenders, retrieved it on the full, and dotted down for the try. Campbell converted his own try to make it 7-0.
Aircraft Charter Solutions PoW - Jon Doster
Sparking South Doyle to a defeat of rivals Bearden, South Doyle (Tenn.) flyhalf Jon Doster was a try-scoring machine.
Doster has been playing rugby since 8th grade and is now a junior and starting #10 for South Doyle, having moved from loose forward. He helped South Doyle to a SMAC conference title as a freshman shifting to scrumhalf for the playoffs.
Trojans Tops in Georgia
The Trojans RFC team from Marietta, Ga. clinched the Georgia Boys HS regular season this week with a 59-21 defeat of Mill Creek.
The Trojans team was led by captains Shea O'Hanlon at flyhalf and Josh Inglis at center - the two scored four of the team's nine tries. Mill Creek has had a strong season and were in with a shot at the league's #1 spot, but instead the Trojans capped off an undefeated run.
This sets up with state semis April 18. The Trojans will face an improving Norsemen club, while #2 Phoenix Alpharetta will take on #3 Mill Creek.
2015 Boys HS Club Rankings Week 9
As the season moves on you'd think that ranking the HS clubs would get easier. It hasn't.
Highly-ranked teams have lost to teams not ranked at all. But what would normally harbinger a changing of the guard is no such thing these days as the upsetter becomes an upsettee a week later. What to do? Well we've bunched some Washington teams because of this, and we've actually, for the moment, moved every single DI team in Rugby Washington into out rankings.
We've also expanded the rankings to accommodate West Valley, who upset Kau Toa, and South Greenville, who beat Alpharetta. We were all set to bring in North Bay out of Maryland, and then they tied the Maryland Exiles. So the Exiles come in at the same spot.
Florida HS, Youth Championships Set for Palm Beach
The Florida Youth Rugby Union (FYRU) and the Florida Rugby Union (FRU) have announced that the 2015 Florida State Championship rugby tournament will be held at the International Polo Club in Palm Beach, Fla.
This year's tournament will feature 13 different divisions from the Men’s State Championship all the way down to the Boys Under 8s. The Championship is a culmination and celebration of a wonderful 2015 rugby season.
South Doyle Too Fast for Bearden
There’s still plenty of rugby to be played, but South Doyle got by a major opponent in the Smokey Mountain Athletic Conference (SMAC) in Tennessee this week with a 42-18 defeat of Bearden.
South Doyle were quicker to get over the ball than Bearden and produced ball quicker than Bearden could form their defensive line.
South Doyle did run into penalty trouble, especially in the second half, but they still got the ball out and used too quickly for Bearden.
Flyhalf Jon Doster had a nice day, scoring tries, but not from hogging the ball. He sets up his runners and is usually the one to get the return pass, although he did score one try skating along the tackle line dummying to every teammate before touching down in the corner.
Cumberland Valley Wins Battle of Pa Champs
Report and photos by Graham Arnall. In a matchup of the reigning Pennsylvania Boys Single School and HS Club champions, Cumberland Valley High School hosted West Shore United in a non-league game at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg Pa. Wednesday evening.
