Greenwich HS will meet Xavier HS in the consolation final of the Boys single-school national championships Saturday, after both won their second-day games on Friday.

This will be a rematch of a game played earlier this season, won by Xavier 37-36.

“We are really happy to have won,” said Greenwich Coach Joe Kelly after his side dispatched St. Thomas Aquinas 40-22. “And we’re even happier that we’re playing Xavier. We want another shot at them.”

Led by some strong work from Tommy Williams, Lucas Bienstock, and Mike McTiernan, Greenwich rebounded nicely from a competitive loss to Herriman to beat the Kansas state champion STA team.

“Herriman was just a really strong, hard-to-contain team,” said Kelly. “We played a good structure and discipline, but they just had a gear we couldn’t match. Against Thomas Aquinas we knew we had to take them on, and we did.”

Meanwhile, a day after going into overtime before losing to Penn, Xavier had to bite some more nails while facing Brownsburg, a team that almost beat Jesuit. Xavier led early, fell behind, and then scored twice to lead 15-7. The lead was far from comfortable, and when Brownsburg worked over a try to make it 15-12, they were in danger of losing another lead. But Xavier held on.

“Physically we were a little beat up, and we were tired, but Brownsburg had played a rough game as well. The kids stepped up because they all wanted to play for each other,” said Xavier Coach Joe Sweeney. “Brownsburg plays a great possession game, and adjusted nicely to us and played a little wider in the second half. Our guys just tackled really well and were patient.”

Sophomore No. 8 Malik Fisher had a superb game. He scored a couple of tries against Penn and continued his hard work against Brownsburg. Flanker Ryan Fitzpatrick also was big on offense and tackling.

“But overall it’s been a team effort,” said Sweeney. “The kids are putting their bodies on the line, and they are really excited to play Greenwich again.”