Cal Poly Humboldt, Wayne State On To Small College Final
Cal Poly Humboldt, Wayne State On To Small College Final
Humboldt signaled their intention early, working the ball quickly to wing DeShawn Ellis, who was caught but gave Endicott something to think about.
Pinned in their own end Endicott needed to take advantage of the big in-goal areas at Aveva Stadium to give themselves time and space to kick clear. They didn’t and Humboldt burst in to charge the kick down and score. Small but scrappy and quite effective with the ball, Endicott cut through into Humboldt territory, but after a long period of defense the Lumberjacks were able to steal the ball and put fullback Bridger Paradis away.
The fullback galloped the length of the field to score a momentum-shifting try, and flyhallf Dante Cappellano hit the touchline conversion to make it 14-0. Endicott seemed their own worst enemy, especially at lineout time where the ball consistently ended up in the hands of Humboldt No. 8 Late Kolopeaua. One of those was close to the try line and Kolopeaua was over to make it 19-0.
But Endicott just needed to get going, and they did, torching the Lumberjacks with two cutback runs off the wing. Suddenly it was 19-14, and as the half loomed a ball handling error from Humboldt allowed a Gull player to swoop in and score under the posts to make it 21-19 Endicott.
Humboldt looked tired but they were still putting the forwards through the phases. A penalty led to a lineout and a maul and prop Adrian Magana picked up and was over.
Cal Poly Humboldt led 24-21 at halftime, but there were some serious questions as to whether they could handle the heat or the pace of the game in the second half.
They did, somehow. Stuck in their 22 for a while, Humboldt finally put boot to ball and some snappy passing from Cappellano set free DeShawn Ellis for a try under the posts and a 29-21 lead. Even as they struggled with the heat, Humboldt did enough to defend and work their pattern. Prop Logan Zampa barreled over in open play, and then one more try made it 41-21.
Up a player due to a yellow card, Endicott scored late, but really they rarely saw good possession in the second half. In many ways it was an improbable win for Humboldt because they got some tries against the run of play and it looked as if Endicott would finish the stronger. And yet they powered on and are in the small college final.
Wayne State will face Humboldt and will most certainly try to make the West Coast team run. Wayne State unleashed some exciting moments against a tough-tackling Catholic team and slowly worked to build a lead.
For Catholic, the key was to make tackles, dominate set piece, and execute when the time came. They did relatively well, especially early on when they spent a good portion of the first nine minutes in Wayne State’s 22.
However, Wayne State’s ability to create opportunities, especially off turnovers, proved a big difference. They got their way into Catholic territory and the first kickable penalty, flyhallf Vuyo Mdalose put it over for a 3-0 lead.
Opting for points was a nod to Catholic’s quality and Wayne State clearly understood they were in for a fight.
Back and forth the teams went without getting over the line, and it wasn’t until 24 minutes in that we saw the first try. A long-range penalty attempt by Wayne State was short, but the chase was good and the Wildcats earned another penalty, this time close in. They ran a tap move, going up the gut and then wide, with center TD Letsoalo going over.
Both sides had more chances to score, but couldn’t quite piece it together and they changed ends with Wayne State up 8-0.
Early in the second half, though, Wayne State struck. An errant pass was scooped up bay a Wildcat defender and soon thereafter big lock Seth Vallance bumped off a tackler and just kept going. That made it 15-0 with Mdalose’s conversion. Working the forwards Catholic was able to punch one over with hooker Lucas Mayer doing the honors.
But Wayne State iced it late with some nice handling setting up flanker Colin Nqandela for the score. And then Letsoalo broke through almost to the line and the ball was recycled out to Jayden James.
A big run from Mayer powered Catholic close and No. 8 Matt Walsh finished it off.
A brave performance from Catholic, but Wayne State had too much, 25-12.
