Top HS clubs from around the USA converged on Hendersonville, Tenn. just outside Nashville for the Friendship Cup and it delivered.
Ranked teams from Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Indiana, and Utah all competed.
The marquee matchup was almost certainly the Charlotte Cardinals vs Cavemen early on Saturday. While these were all shortened matches of 45 minutes (in total), this was still #1 vs #2.
The game itself featured ground-shaking collisions from both sides. Cavemen looked to use their imposing front row to dominate the gainline.
Meanhwile the Cardinals started going into the wind, and while they wanted to use their kicking game, now wasn’t the time. But it was a long break from fullback Max Colson and smart support that saw scrumhalf Andrew Kuhn score.
Cavemen needed to kick and in fact one of the few times they did they got points out of it. Charlotte misplayed the kick, the Cavemen forwards swarmed in, and after a penalty they tapped and were over to tie it up 7-7.
Another long run from Colson set up a second try. While the fullback kept looking for someone to pass to his coaches were just urging him to run. Charlotte eventually got a penalty, opted for the scrum, and powered through the middle to score under the posts.
In the second half Charlotte was able to dominate field position with their kicking game, and they iced it with lock Lukas Lupinski thundering through—the second row has been a breakout star for both Charlotte Catholic and now the Cardinals.
Final score: Charlotte Cardinals 28 Cavemen 7
