California D1AA Latest as USD Wins Key Game
California D1AA Latest as USD Wins Key Game
University of San Diego remains atop the California D1AA after an impressive 42-9 defeat of Claremont Colleges.
USD, Chico State, and Stanford all won in-conference over the weekend and that leaves us with standings that look like this:
(We've combined the South and the North teams into one standings, but the South teams are USD, Arizona State, and Claremont Colleges.
| California D1AA | W | L | T | PA | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| San Diego | 2 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 9 | 142 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| American River | 2 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 31 | 112 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Cal Maritime | 1 | 2 | 0 | 108 | 113 | -5 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Chico State | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 49 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| San Jose State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 92 | 71 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Claremont Colleges | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 68 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Stanford | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 113 | -56 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Fresno State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 144 | -98 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Arizona State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 31 | -5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Nevada | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 163 | -132 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| San Francisco State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
San Diego's defense and their ability to hog possession was at the forefront this weekend. After a shutout the week before they held Claremont Colleges to zero tries, and only three Mate Kvirikashvili penalty goals.
What has also been working for USD is their bench, as they pretty much are comfortable with all 13 forwards that they use. Wing Chase Basson got them going early with a try but Claremont kept close with penalty goals. As a result it had a bit more of a playoff feel in the first half with USD flyhalf Lucas Troughear answering with two penalty goals to make it 11-9 as halftime approached.
But right before the break lock Brandon Gilducci bulled over and that, with Troughear's conversion, made it 18-9. In the second half hooker Nathan Granillo's try with Troughear's conversion gave the Toreros a clear lead at 25-9 and they opened it up to score three more times and win 42-9.
Stanford got their first win of the league season with a 43-34 decision over a tenacious Cal Maritime team. Jeffrey Edsall scored three times for the Cardinal and Taki Rifai scored twice in a game that went back and forth.
Chico State started with a 49-0 win over Nevada to open up their account.
Calvin Thackery was outstanding off the bench as a forward, taking over the game to a certain extent and he scored two tries, as well. No. 8 Payton Maze also scored two tries while flyhalf Alfie Harris logged 13 points from the boot.
So there remains a question as to who is going to emerge as the very top team, but it does seem to be either San Diego or American River.
