Beavers, Spartans On Top in California D1AA

02.15.2026College Men

Haydn Williams scored four tries for ARC v SFSU.

Author: Alex Goff

ARC and San Jose State stay on top of the Northern California D1AA Conference after both teams logged big wins over the weekend.

For American River, it was a record-breaking day with a 134-14 win over San Francisco State. ARC was led by Haydn Williams, who scored four tries and was a defensive leader. In all, 15 different ARC players crossed the tryline.

Head Coach Zach Swithenbank said he felt the big win was the product of how hard his players had been working, and gave a not to the SFSU outfit.

"I want to give a ton of respect to San Francisco State," he said. "They played with heart and sportsmanship from the first whistle to the last. They were outmatched today and it would have been easy to fold, but they battled to the final minute and competed with real pride. They could’ve packed it in after the first match, but instead they stayed, joined forces with a few of our guys, and gave us a second game that was competitive and physical. That says a lot about their character and their coaching staff. Hats off to them, quality people and a quality program."

California Collegiate Conference Men's D1AA Standings February 15, 2026

February 15, 2026

California Collegiate Conference

It was a little closer for the SJSU Spartans as they faced a Cal Poly Humboldt side that has moved up from the D3 level to contend at D1AA—and contend is exactly what they're doing.

The Spartans beat the Lumberjacks 43-28 to move to 5-0. Tighthead prop Owen Schassberger was a huge part of this win, putting in a hard physical effort and doing the easily-overlooked work in tight.

Schassberger also throws in for the Spartan lineouts and was outstanding in that aspect of play.

"Cal Poly Humboldt has a solid attack pattern and they are disciplined in attack," said SJSU Head Coach Nick. Schlobohm. "They exploited poor execution of our strategy inside our defensive 22 and made us pay."

Schlobohm also added that SJSU showed a lack of discipline and confidence, undercutting their execution of basic rugby skills.

"It was a less impressive performance than we had hoped for," said the coach. "Looking ahead we need to improve our execution in all areas of play to unleash our potential."

These two teams are comfortably ahead in the Northern California Conference.

Fresno State and Nevada battled in a game to see who might make a push for the top four. Fresno State took that one 56-24 and the Bulldogs now sit 3rd at 2-2 with superior points difference over Humboldt and Chico State.

Chico State and Nevada face off next week. Fresno State takes on ARC.

In the Southwest Conference, Arizona State made a bit of a statement with a 72-7 defeat of Claremont Colleges. Center Austin Cox scored three tries for the Sun Devils. Captain and No. 8 Pearse McNamara, flanker Tyler Larson, and wing Davis Hoffman all scored two, with flyhalf Jacob Hurl adding 17 points with the boot and a try.

That's a massive result for ASU, who has also won comfortably over USC. For their part, the Trojans beat Loyola Marymount 14-12 thanks to tries from Jayden Phillips and Jacob George, with Ian Smith converting both.