After defeating Riviera Beach Maritime Academy, Georgetown Prep completed a successful spring break swing through Florida with victories over St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons.  

The original plan called for a final game against a Catholic Schools Select squad, but some scheduling issues prevented the assembly of an all-star squad.  Instead Prep used the matches as a development opportunity.  

"It was an excellent opportunity to mix players of different levels into our match squad and put them in a very competitive situation, where they would be under pressure from good opponents while learning from some of the veterans in the lineup," said Prep Coach Pete Walton, who added that he was pleased with the performance of both newer and veteran players over the course of the tour.  

Walton also praised the performance of the RBMA, Aquinas and Gibbons teams. "All three teams readily accepted the challenge of squaring off against our squad, clearly relishing the opportunity, and then were extremely gracious and generous in hosting our players and supporters after the matches.  I hope they consider a trip north so that we can return the hospitality."

Prep faced off with Aquinas the day after beating RBMA and posted a 53-12 win against a very physical Aquinas team.  Aquinas had an athletic team with good size, but are young in terms of rugby experience with only two full seasons under their belt.  The Prep attack was sparked by the performance of Junior flyhalf Miles Gamboa and sophomore scrumhalf David Mitchell.  Junior flanker Rob Saylor led from the front with hard work at the breakdown and very effective carries on offense.  Sophomore prop Alex Matta had a good game, working hard in set pieces and notching assists on two tries.  

Prep followed up two days later with a match at Cardinal Gibbons.  The game was played on the Gibbons campus at the football stadium.  Prep was slow to start, perhaps feeling the wear and tear of travel as well as the heat radiating off a turf field in Florida sunshine.  

Prep scored early in the half, landing a try from No. 8 Brian Ferrigno.  It wasn't long before Gibbons was able to strike back, when a counter-attack off a Prep kick was dotted down in the corner by Gibbons fullback Matt McGlaughlin. (Prep 7 - Gibbons 5).   Miles Gamboa had moved into the centers and senior flyhalf James Lyons was back in the #10 shirt.  This combination hooked up after the Gibbons score to re-assert the Prep lead on a long pass to Gamboa who hit a gap in the Gibbons defense for the second Prep try.  

The Gibbons forwards were contesting hard at the breakdown, slowing down the recycle and counter-rucking when possible.  However, the Prep attack would add four more tries on their way to the win.  Gibbons narrowly missed a consolation score at the final whistle when they were held up 3 times in goal in the last minutes.  Cardinal Gibbons had a stand-out performance from their sophomore scrumhalf, Nick Aumann and senior No. 8 Misha Lazcano, both showing great athleticism and rugby awareness. Aumann repeatedly kept Prep on their heels, quick tapping penalties and sparking the Gibbons attack.  Lazcano was instrumental in getting go forward ball from set piece and in open play. Prep senior scrumhalf Rory Hodgson was back in the lineup for this match and earned man-of-the-match recognition from Cardinal Gibbons, while the versatile Brian Ferrigno got the same for the forwards with his performance in the back row. Final score Prep 40, Gibbons 5. 

Prep heads back to Maryland to enjoy the rest of the break before resuming the MAVRC schedule against Good Counsel on April 8. Both St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons will get back into action after Easter on April 9.  Gibbons will face Archbishop McCarthy while Aquinas will try to maintain its unblemished league record against Boca Raton.