HS Boys

Clash of Top Teams in Utah

During the offseason, Herriman Head Coach Derek Smith reflected back on the 2014 campaign and decided that his team’s schedule needed to be more challenging in order to better prepare his squad for the rigors of postseason play, so when it came time to schedule a friendly against rival and national club power United, he took the opportunity to make it even tougher.  

The game was to be played at United’s home field in Alpine – always a tough place to play – and was scheduled on the day after Herriman’s  prom, with U17 All-Americans Tomasi Tonga, Leki Fotu, and Ian Abbott in the air en route to France for the HSAA tour. It was Smith’s hope that scheduling a high level opponent under intentionally adverse circumstances would force his team to reach down and find out what they were made of.  Mission accomplished.

Herriman Downs United

During the offseason, Herriman Head Coach Derek Smith reflected back on the 2014 campaign and decided that his team’s schedule needed to be more challenging in order to better prepare his squad for the rigors of postseason play, so when it came time to schedule a friendly against rival and national club power United, he took the opportunity to make it even tougher.  

St. Paul's Unbeaten in Deep South

St. Paul’s of Covington finished their Deep South HS league season undefeated after they won 17-10 on the road against 2nd-place Mississippi. 

JT Kinch, Cullen Lagasse, Christian Jarrett, and Jacob McDonald all scored for St. Paul’s, who finished the season with 183 points for an only 25 scored again.

"Mississippi doesn't give anyone an inch. You have to fight for every step, " said St Paul's scrumhalf Kyle Gardner, adding, with respect, that “they hit like we do."

St. Paul’s now heads into the Deep South playoffs with the #1 seed.

NorCal Selects Beat Touring Side

The Northern California Boys select side defeated the England Lambs, the national select side of independent schools players, 23-10 Sunday at the SFGG club’s Treasure Island facility.

In front of a strong and vocal crowd, the NorCal side used their superiority in the forwards to out-ruck the Lambs and make up for their lack of good lineout possession. NorCal didn’t necessarily have a size superiority but they worked hard and won the breakdown. That led to two tries Sam Tofi (Archbishop Riordan). Peninsula Green’s Erik Cortinas kicked two penalties, while Tevita Mailau of Hayward converted both tries and added a penalty.

North Carolina Latest

Cal State Long Beach defeated University of Southern California 50-5 to finish 6-0 in the Gold Coast DIAA Conference.

With the loss, USC drops to 2-4 and out of semifinal contention. All of the conference scores are in except the last one, between UC Irvine and UC San Diego, both currently winless. So the semifinals are set for April 11, with Long Beach facing Cal State Fullerton, and University of San Diego against Santa Barbara City College.

The winner will go on to the national quarterfinals at UC Davis.

Germantown Starts Strong in Tennessee

The West Tennessee HS league is underway and already Germantown has turned some heads.

After edging the Storm 12-7 a week ago, Marc Holley’s team won big over Freedom Prep 50-5. That moved them to 2-0,but Holly is quick to point out that his squad lost to White Station in a non-matrix match on Friday.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Holley.

Holley and Keven Roedel started the Germantown program some years ago, and then Roedel left to start a middle school team called the Mustangs. That initial class of middle school players later joined Germantown and through various injuries and difficulties, are now all playing together as seniors. They are the core of the team.

Olympus Wins Two in Utah

Olympus HS in Utah won two games in as many days as they beat East HS and Bear River.

Olympus got good performances from hooker Colin Burton, who scored a try, and No. 8 and captain Tyler Ringwood, who also touched down, as they beat East 28-17.

“They played with a little bit of vinegar and I like that,” said Olympus Head Coach Blake Burdette. “East is very big and they come at you and they don’t stop. Our guys worked really hard and stuck to the game plan.”

Center Quinn Meier was outstanding on defense.

Things are still looking good for East, as Head Coach Rob Kingsford has them chasing the top teams in a tough state. East moved to single-school, as did Olympus, partly in the wake of the Highland program splitting.

This Weekend in HS Boys Rugby - West Coast

Here’s a quick look at Boys HS rugby along the West Coast.

It’s spring break in Oregon, so there’s only one round-robin, and that’s in the Varsity division. But there is more action elsewhere.

Rugby Washington

The upsets of last week will see the upcoming games of great importance to all. Budd Bay, now at 2-2, visits Seattle. Kent, now 2-2, plays at Eastside. And then the two leading teams, Chuckanut and Liberty, are slated to face off. This game was thought to be a game of two undefeated teams, but both lost last week, so it’s 3-1 v 3-1 at Pat Ryan Field in SeaTac. 

Good Challenge for Wando, Georgetown

It’s been a busy week or so for Wando, as the South Carolina Boys HS program beat touring Bracebdge out of Ontario, won a league game, and then were upended in a close clash with visiting Georgetown Prep.

Wando beat Bracebridge 66-5 and then James Island 116-0, and would be forgiven for be supremely confident going into Saturday’s clash with Georgetown.

Georgetown was coming off a win over South Greenville, another team enjoying a solid season in South Carolina, and also tours of College of Charleston and Furman.

“Wando looked very strong in the backline and challenged us to make significant tactical adjustments,” said Georgetown Coach Pete Walson. “Coach Tod Shepard has his young men playing as a unit. I think we bested them most around the fringe of the tackle area.”

Gamebreakers - HS Boys This Week

In our new feature Game-Breakers, we highlight some players who made an impact on the field this past week.

This is our weekly HS Boys section. If you think we need to look at someone, let us know.

Loggers Prep for Touring All-Stars

The Washington State Loggers boys high school rep-side today announced its XVs selections to compete against the England Independent Schools “Lambs” XV on Easter Sunday, April 5 in Seattle. 

Woodlands Rebounds in Texas

The Woodlands produced a statement result over the weekend in the Rugby Texas South Division with a 26-0 shutout of #31 Katy.

Ranked #43 in the latest GRR rankings, Woodlands had dropped down after a 22-7 defeat to Kingswood earlier in the season. But by beating Katy, Woodlands now jumps into 1st in the division with a 3-1 record, ahead of Cy-Fair (who they beat) by two bonus points.

“That loss against Kingswood was all my fault,” said Woodlands age-grade coach Phillip Beck. “We didn’t really turn up and Kingswood played well.” 

Beck’s team feels they’re better than that, and they showed it against Katy.

Three Undefeated Clubs in Oregon

Rugby Oregon’s boys club league is heating up as Linn-Benton survived a stern test and two other teams remain undefeated.

Linn-Benton entered the weekend 2-0 and set to face a big, hard-hitting Bend team. If Linn-Benton were to be taken seriously as a contender, surely they had to beat Bend, and they did, 19-5.

Justus St. Clair was outstanding with his goalkicking, slotting four out of four penalties and converting the lone try by Kieran McCullough. Oddly, Linn-Benton’s Zbyszek Sikora was clear through to score another, but was penalized for early celebration, a new one for us here at Goff Rugby Report.