Cal Wins Thundering D1A Final for 2nd Straight Title

05.02.2026College Men

Cade Crist gets some attention from Drew Baublitz. Photo Matthew Dalton.

Author: Alex Goff

Cal made it two D1A championships in a row on a chilly Saturday night in Indianapolis, riding their explosive attack ...

This game was certainly close but at the end of the first it didn't seem that way. With Navy working through phasesl at midfield, the ball squirted out of the side of a ruck. Cal No. 8 Oliver Teague snatched up the ball, ended off some attention, and charged 60 meters to score under the posts.

Filipino Edstrom converted and just like that Cal led 7-0.

Navy responded. They looked to set wings Tanner Smith and Avion Ganse free. Using lock Austin Taylor and prop Unini, among others, they tested the Cal defenders. The Bears did well, especially in the interior channels, but when center Drew Baublitz reeled off a.long, weaving run, they were in business.

After a perfectly-executed maul, scrumhalf Strehle snapped the ball back to the weak side where center Cornelius crashed through.

A break by Masi Koi. Photo Matthew Dalton.

At 7-5 the game was, as expected, on. Knife edge. And when Navy punished a couple of penalties and got all the way down to the tryline, it seemed like the Midshipmen would be the next to score.

But Cal prop Cade Crist pounced over a tackle and forced a holding-on penalty. Normally teams on this situation would take the opportunity to kick to touch.

Not Cal. Flyhalf Rand Santos tapped quickly and send the ball wide. Wing Masi Koi made it to midfield and managed to keep the ball away from touch.

Scrumhalf Solomon Williams snagged the offload and cut upfield. Navy was penalized again and this time it was Williams who tapped and ran. Scrambling, Navy was once again penalized; Cal took the lineout, ran a maul, and Christ, who had started it all with the jackle at his tryline, was the one to touch it down over Navy's tryline.

It was a classic Cal turnaround.

A few minutes later Santos broke through, sidestepped a defender, and was off to the line when he was tackled by Navy flanker John Massino. The tackle, however, was high, and after Cal failed to score off the advantage, Massino got himself a yellow card for the tackle. Moments later the Cal front-rowers were driving lock Seamus Deely over for another Cal try.

Navy finds some space. Photo Matthew Dalton.

Now up 19-5, Cal had about nine minutes left in the Navy sin-bin and they took advantage. Off a scrum, Teague picked up and started forward before sending a pass out to Williams. The scrumhalf popped a pass back inside where wing Masi Koi was steaming into a gap. Koi took a hard line and weaved out to the corner, diving in to make it 24-5. Edstrom made the tough conversion and Cal had a 21-point lead over Navy going into halftime.

Navy had a chance to score late in the half but couldn't get that final pass done.

With a ton of work to do the Midshipmen started the second half on the front foot. They got a Roanin Krieger penalty goal but Cal responded. Some hard runs with the forwards led to the ball going wide with fullback Oliver Newall zipping a backhanded pass out to ing Nate Comiskey. Comiskey finished nicely and Cal had extended their lead.

Navy would not go away. They succeeded in closing down the Cal offense, and slowed the ball down at the breakdown. Cal had been good at that, too, however, and their one-on-one tackles were solid.

But, when Aidan Gerber broke off the back of a Navy lineout, Newall would tackling him only to then go over the ball from an offside position. That was deemed a cynical foul, and Newall was shown a yellow card. Cal somehow held on, but the consistent pressure from Navy started to tell.

Cal defended doggedly, but just as Newall's yellow card was about to expire, Crist was yellow carded for a cynical offside at the tryline. Cal was down to 13 players for a short period, and would be shorthanded for about 18 minutes.

Navy finally made them pay, taking a short lineout throw and putting Tanner Call straight through. Krieger converted brilliantly and now it was 31-15.

The game remained a massive battle in the breakdown. Both teams needed that turnover to help them change their fortunes, And the next score came to Navy, as they went wide where Baublitz weaved around one defender and bowled over another to score from 35 meters. It was an impressive try and now it was 31-19, with Navy within two scores.'

Cal celebrates their 2026 D1A championship. Photo Matthew Dalton.

But slowly Cal started to work off the clock. They got down to Navy's tryline twice only for a knock-on and a poach to stop them. Time was not Navy's friend, and when Comiskey was set up for his second, the game was pretty much over.

Led by Deely and his second-row mate Byron Finley, Cal fronted up physically, playing a lot of defense in the second half.

They made it difficult for Navy to get quick scores, and that was the undoing for the men from Annapolis.

Cal ended the season 17-0, while Navy lost two, both to the Bears.

"We'll savor this for a while," said Cal Head Coach Jack Clark, who had marshaled his team to a D1A championship for the second year in a row.