Here's a look at high school boys rugby around the nation.

Scores March 17-19

Northern California

Danville over Motherlode

SFGG and Marin faced off in a NorCal HS Club matchup that carried plenty of interest. The Highlanders had been making a push toward challenging the top teams in the region and one of those was certainly SFGG.

In the end, SFGG won the game, 27-10. Lock Dermit Fitzpatrick scored two tries and flanker Benny Hatch had a very strong game. Hooker Evin Gorman put in a ton of work, while scrumhalf Daniel Sweeny handled the attack tempo well. Levi Cervantes was always a threat on the wing. 

"We played better field position in this game," said Head Coach Tony Wells. "We've got pretty talented kickers and we''ve been working a lot on the kicking game and we're reaping the rewards."

All-California

The top single-school teams from NorCal and SoCal Youth Rugby met up this weekend with Torrey Pines taking the All-California title. We have details here:

Torrey Pines Wins All-California Final; DLS Takes 3rd

Gonzaga

Gonzaga played two games this weekend and continue to work on their depth. They need it as they are finding some further challenges. They held off Vienna 33-28. Now, Gonzaga was leading 33-14 with maybe five minutes to go, so they had the game in hand; the game was almost decided in the opening 20 minutes with three converted tries from Gonzaga. Gonzaga Head Coach Peter Baggetta said Vienna kept coming at them and made some smart adjustments.

Gonzaga dominated the lineout but eventually Vienna figured out how to avoid them when possible.Vienna Head Coach Kendall Erickson said his team's ill discipline cost them early—it was a tough pill to swallow but perhaps a key lesson in March. They also learned they can hang with Gonzaga, which is a good takeaway.

Gonzaga also tied Fort Hunt 14-14. This is an interesting result because Fort Hunt Head Coach Dale Roach told GRR that he has talent and ability on his team but the jigsaw pieces weren't coming together. Maybe they came together a bit.

Both teams appeared to be playing a somewhat conservative game and their defensive efforts were intense. Gonzaga led early once again, this time 14-0, but Fort Hunt clawed back.

Fort Hunt were "playing well through phases and pressing Gonzaga's defense," said Roach. "Working the outside of the field Fort Hunt was able to tie. In the end, strong defensive play by both sides limited scoring opportunities and made for a tight and competitive game."

For Gonzaga, they were without scrumhalf Joey Ries who was injured on their tour of Northern California. Brody Johnson has stepped in and done well but the experience Ries brings is difficult to replace. Ries is expacted back soon and Johnson returns to outside center. Junior flyhalf Kieran Downs has been running Gonzaga's attack nicely, while flanker Anfrew LeFrankie, a product of Vienna's excellent youth program, is leading the team in tackles.

Pacific Northwest

The first weekend in Oregon showed that Camas, as expected, is solid, with a 43-17 win over a very good Eastside Tsunami. West Valley beat Beaverton and Chinook took care of Newberg. This stratifies the league fairly quickly because all of these clubs have been state contenders in the past.

Owyhee logged a good opening win in Idaho over Eagle and Rigby just got by Rocky Mountain 15-10. Rainier benefited very much from their early tour to Texas and showed that with a 41-21 over a tough Liberty side. Eastside Lions won big over Budd Bay.

Tours and More

Woodlands capped off their three-game tour of Connecticut with a 37-8 win over Staples.

Woodlands 2-0 So Far on Northeast Trip

The entire Woodlands starting front row of Luke Gardzelewski, Cody Clough, and Paul Feletoa scored, and lock Sky Feletoa once again found paydirt, as did their consistent scoring threat Ethan Scott at No. 8. Center Tommy Kratt also scored.

Woodlands played well but also wore Staples down with their size up front. That resulted in a couple of late tries that made the scoreline a bit larger than perhaps Staples had hoped. 

Woodlands is well-coached, seasoned, large, technically sound, and plays beautiful rugby," said Staples Head Coach Neal Seidman. "Their forwards moved as one and when they moved the ball to the backs they received it at pace and attacked Staples quickly. Staples matched their intensity and physicality from the start, actually controlling the early part of the game with its forward play before attacking outside for the first, and Staples' only, try of the day. Given it was WHC's third game in less than a week it was a very very impressive performance by them—they are more than deserving of their #1 ranking."

Staples was coming off an impressive 20-18 win over Georgetown Prep, who this week just barely edged LaSalle 22-20. LaSalle is another team that has ramped up the level of their games and has learned a lot from their early matches against Gonzaga and St. Ignatius.

Pelham played three periods of 30 minutes against Trumbull in Connecticut and won that entire game 62-19. Scrumhalf Mike Sample was outstanding for Pelham. Meanwhile Xavier split two games, beating Fairfield Prep but losing to Aspetuck.

Aspetuck Defeats Xavier

We have a couple of reports out from Utah:

Herriman Needs Comeback to Beat tough Olympus

East Pulls Away from Highland in Utah

But some other results of note: Brighton beat a very good SLV Rhinos side and put their hand up once more for their status as a major contender in the state. Mountain Ridge put in a good result to beat Westlake.

Tempe rebounded from a loss to touring Regis Jesuit with a victory over Santa Monica 36-12. Injuries and unavailable players didn't help Tempe against Regis, but the players in that game learned a lot and started to show better continuity and cohesion. Garrett Ness, Tanner DeMassa, Vili Pulu, and Talli Maafu showed well for Tempe, who welcome the SOC Raptors this coming weekend.