De La Salle put an emphatic finish on the California school competition with a 52-24 defeat of Torrey Pines in the final held at the Saint Mary's College stadium.

Jesuit of Sacramento took 3rd, holding off a determined Long Beach Poly 28-22.

Championship Game

The All-California School Final began with De La Salle threatening right away. The Spartans were able to get the ball wide but couldn't quite finish it off.

But not long after DLS forced a turnover and Michael Freeman put a nice chip kick over the Torrey Pines defense and the ball bounced into the hands of Dominic Besag for a try under the posts. That put De La Salle ahead 7-0. Torrey Pines replied with a deep restart and their pressure forced a drop by the Spartans. TP attacked off the scrum and were in to tie it up 7-7.

The game was like that throughout the first half, with teams training tries. De La Salle went into halftime up 24-19 with all to play for. Some changes at the break secured momentum for De La Salle, but, said Head Coach Derek Holmberg, "what we really addressed was our body language. We were too excited when we scored and too upset when they did. The boys had some words for each other at half that had everyone fired up and on the same page."

From the first scrum of the second half Besag took a crash ball for 80 meters up the middle. From that point on the game seemed to go strongly for De La Salle. Big runs by outside center JJ Tofaeono opened up space for everyone else. Wing Nathan Vanderklught scored on a 50-meter run and had another long breakaway where he offloaded Freeman for a try.

"It was a true team win through and through," said Holmberg. "Hats off to Torrey Pines who were as good as we expected them to be. Their coaching staff is made up of men who have been dedicating their time to this sport for a long time and it was great to compete against a program run the right way. We really appreciate them making the trip to NorCal this time."

Torrey Pines Head Coach Matty Sandoval was all praise for De La Salle. 

"We came in thinking we had a chance to win the first state championship for a Southern California team, but that was quickly dispelled," said Sandoval. "De La Salle again proved that Northern California is the gold standard for high school rugby. Hats off to them, they beat us in every phase of the game."

Hooker Chase Tofaeono was a massive contributor to the DLS win along with Freeman and Besag.

3rd-4th Game

Jesuit defeated a very skilled Long Beach Poly side 28-22 in a game that was closer than even that scoreline indicates.

Both teams brought everything they had in a physical clash. LB Poly's physicality and speed (of movement and decision-making) allowed them to punish Jesuit defensive errors early. Jesuit rebounded and inched their way to a 16-15 lead.

Poly replied with a converted try and led 22-16. But with prop JP Leatherby setting the platform up front and flyhalf Fletcher Popp along with fullback Roanin Krieger controlling field position, Jesuit was able to regain the momentum. Jesuit went up 23-22 with 20 minutes to go after sophomore No. 8 George Hemmen went over. LB Poly fought back but the Jesuit defensive line held. Then a weakside move saw Krieger feed center Adam Hammond to finish off the game.