Jesuit High School and Danville Oaks will meet next week for the Northern California Varsity Premier championship.

Danville defeated Archbishop Riordan in a very difficult game 37-13. Danville was favored to win but got a stern contest from Riordan. It was much, much closer in the other semifinal, as Jesuit just defeated Granite Bay by the score of 26-24.

Tight defense was the name of the game for the first twenty minutes as both teams had to deal with the rain and big hits. The Jesuit backs were able to crack the line when wing Jayme Thomas broke the line and then fed outside center Christian Dyer to score under the posts.  Luke Thayer hit the conversion.  Jesuit continued to pressure the Granite Bay lineout and it paid off when eight man Bailey Abercrombie pounced on an overthrow to score. The conversion was missed, to the score held at 12-0. Granite Bay kept fighting and on the stroke of halftime they were just held up by some determined Jesuit defenders.  Halftime score – Jesuit 12 Granite Bay 0

Granite Bay came out in the second half with a little more purpose and broke down the Jesuit defense for two scores to tie the game at 12-12.  Jesuit lost some key players to injury, but the team rallied to score with flanker Sam Collins hitting a great support line to score. Scrumhalf Carlos Ramirez hit the conversion to retake the lead.  

Jesuit in gold, Granite Bay in green. Dan Bandoni photos.

Granite Bay came back with a vengeance, scoring twice within three minutes, but missing one conversion to take a 24-19 lead with less than 10 minutes to go - all while Jesuit captain Christian Dyer was in the sin bin.  But there was enough time for Jesuit to come back. Granite Bay got on the wrong side of the referee and a penalty five meters out was taken quick for prop Connor Bellinger to score. Ramirez hit another conversion for Jesuit to take a 26-24 lead into the final two minutes.  Granite Bay kept up the pressure, but lost the ball in the end and it was cleared for Jesuit to narrowly escape with a win.

Fullback George Neidhammer and flanker Sam Collins were named Player of the Game and both thoroughly deserved the honors. For Granite Bay, Sam Cusano and Andrew Turner played superbly in the backline - both scored tries - and flanker Jagger Medeiros was a destructive menace all over the field. Captain Roddy Hamilton and youngster Doug Mitchell did well in the front row at scrum time, while Justin Oles played with grit and energy.

Jesuit in gold, Granite Bay in green. Dan Bandoni photos.

“All credit to Granite Bay, a well coached side with quality athletes who will be a very tough team at Nationals this year,” said Jesuit Head Coach John Shorey. “Jesuit had some players step up today and will need more players to lift their game in order to get by Danville in the final, but these are the pressure filled games we need to get better.”

Danville had plenty to deal with against Archbishop Riordan. Sherrie Theriault photo.

It was one of the most intense games I've ever seen," added Granite Bay Head Coach Jason Divine. "It was a tremendous spectacle of action and big hits with players selling out all the way for glory. We gave it our all and no one can say we didn't, so you can't be disappointed about that. Now we prepare for nationals."

Danville will be playing in the Pacific Cup May 5-7 on Treasure Island, while Jesuit and Granite Bay will go to Charlotte, NC for the Boys NIT May 19-21.

Jesuit in gold, Granite Bay in green. Dan Bandoni photos.