Since we were late in previewing this weekend in D1AA, we will be looking at the weekend in terms of hindsight.

Florida

Central Florida beat Florida 38-26 to improve to 3-2. Scrumhalf Jaxson Patterson and wing James White each scored two tries for the Knights, while captain and inside center Jack Puchalski and his center partner William Boundy each added one.

With the victory UCF is secure in 2nd in the Florida D1AA South.

Secure in 1st place is St. Thomas, which defeated South Florida 36-13. Six different Bobcats scored on the day: Fletcher VanDeman, Gianni Bolognini, Daniel Crawford, Owen Phillips, Emiliano Fernandez, and Taonaishe Mapani. STU is now 4-0 in league play.

The losses hurt Florida and USF in their chase to catch Florida State, which sits 4-1 in the North.

California

American River kept its hold on the California D1AA North with a 97-0 win over San Francisco State. With nine A-side players out, ARC showcased their depth. SFSU played hard but newer ARC players such as AB Faaliga stepped up to the challenge. Faaliga played well at prop and hooker in his first A-side match. Junior Kelemendi was stellar at fullback, playing the entire game and making a massive impact and creating a number of scores in his first A-side action of the season.

We also saw Caleb Smithee step up in a big way in his first start of the season. He began the game at wing and then shifted to scrumhalf, showcasing skill at both and scoring two tries on his birthday. Save Gucake Started his first game at No. 8 and was another creating tries as well as playing strong defense.

Vita Vaea commanded the game at flyhalf, and showcased smart kicking despite the cold, wet, and windy conditions in the Bay. Juju Volavola had his first start at outside center and looked like a veteran.

Regulars also showed well. Edgar Montes and Tre Robinson were dominant forces and Montes scored four tries and was relentless at flanker, while Robinson scored two and controlled the midfield.

"Overall, I’m incredibly proud of this team’s effort," said ARC Head Coach Zach Swithenbank. "So many guys made the most of their opportunities today, and it was great to see. More importantly, this win clinched our spot in the playoffs on the 29th for the Norcal Championship. Now, we turn our focus to UNR next week, our final regular-season match and a chance to secure home-field advantage for the NorCal Championship."

Indeed ARC did clinch that playoff spot and sits 5-0.

In the South Claremont Colleges won a key game over Arizona State 38-24. That puts them at 2-2 in the South.

There were a couple of non-conference games, too. Iowa State is building itself toward the D1AA playoffs and beat Mizzou 60-12. This was a three-period game designed to get everyone on the Cyclones on the field. 

"We wanted to see where everyone is at before we start a run of matches against men's clubs and select sides as we look to really test ourselves physically," said ISU Head Coach Ant Frein.