The Florida Youth Rugby North pool got even more embroiled in complications this past weekend with the Cape Pirates' 19-10 defeat of previously unbeaten Daytona.
The Pirates were aided somewhat by Daytona's choice to bench two key players for disciplinary reasons. With those two players on the sidelines, the Pirates scored two first-half tries t lead 14-0. Daytona scored twice to make it 14-10 before a late Cape try finished them off.
"We benefited from two of their players not starting but we also had a really good game plan for them," said Cape Pirates Head Coach Steve Roper, whose two sons, Blaine (scrumhalf), and Brock (over 75% accuracy in goalkicking this season) have been instrumental to the team's success.
The result puts the Pirates, Daytona, and Orlando all in a virtual tie at the top of the North. Tampa Krewe are 0-4, but it's a competitive 0-4. They are a solid team in many respects, but are stuck in the toughest pool in the state. Orlando beat Tampa this past weekend, but in a close one 29-20, to go to 3-1.
"We were the team in that position last year," said Roper. "We got beat up, but we were better for it."
Naples beat the Mavericks to stay on top of Pool South 1 with a 4-0 record. Key Biscayne beat Boca Raton to remain in 2nd place.
In a battle of two 2-0 teams in Pool South 2, Riviera Beach beat Jupiter 22-8 to move into 1st. And meanwhile, Weston moved to 3-0 by beating Cardinal Gibbons.
Weston opened up the scoring with an immediate kick recovery and fast hands to hit inside center Arturo San Segundo within the first minutes. Stormy weather and 20mph winds made kicking difficult for Weston’s Matthew Mairowitz, but the flyhalf was able to convert the kick to bring the lead to 7-0. Cardinal Gibbons immediately fired back by capitalizing on poor maul defense and scoring in the corner to even the game at 7-7.
Cardinal Gibbons’ mauling proved to be effective in gaining territory, but Weston held them off just enough. And then, despite several knock-ons, Weston was able to punish poor Cardinal Gibbons tackling to put up two more tries - one by Mairowitz and one from rookie wing Juan Vega.
Mairowitz and Vega scored again in the second half, as did fullback Ramiro Fernandez, and the forwars set a good platform for scrumhalf Alex Ruiz and centers Arturo San Segundo and Evan Barada set up the outside backs. Ruiz put in a try of his own off of a pick-and-go near the fringes of the ruck, and prop Adam Serota broke through Gibbons defensive line for a 50-meter run to offload for another Weston try..
Both teams displayed good sportsmanship in front of fans despite terrible weather conditions. The match ended 45-7 to Weston.
Below are the Florida standings. Games between teams from separate pools do not count in the standings.
| Florida Boys HS Standings | |||||||
| North | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Orlando | 3 | 1 | 0 | 93 | 72 | 21 | 12 |
| Cape | 2 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 36 | 12 | 8 |
| Daytona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 71 | 30 | 41 | 8 |
| Tampa | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 112 | -74 | 0 |
| South 1 | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Naples | 4 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 37 | 69 | 16 |
| Key Biscayne | 3 | 1 | 0 | 95 | 64 | 31 | 12 |
| Boca Raton | 1 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 4 |
| Mavericks | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100 | -100 | 0 |
| South 2 | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| RBMA | 3 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 39 | 64 | 12 |
| Jupiter | 2 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 34 | 4 | 8 |
| Miami | 1 | 2 | 1 | 88 | 117 | -29 | 6 |
| STA | 0 | 3 | 1 | 56 | 95 | -39 | 2 |
| South 3 | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| Weston | 3 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 12 | 73 | 12 |
| Cardinal Gibbons | 1 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 79 | -45 | 4 |
| Trojans | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 44 | -25 | 0 |
- Additional reporting by Alex Ruiz
