The Harpeth Harlequins have come out of their solid showing at Nash Bash with wins in their first two Middle Tennessee conference games.

The Harlequins defeated rivals the Clarksville Highlanders and followed that up with a defeat of Father Ryan.

“The relentless pace of Harpeth’s first XV is something that our players could not defend in the first half,” said Clarksville Head Coach Chris Peterson. 

Setting the tone early in the first 25 seconds of the match, flyhalf and captain Jameson Reagan scored the first of two tries for him on the night. Centers Mitch Rossi and Zach Rademacher also found offloads from the backline to score one each. Notable was Rossi’s hard running, along with his assisting on three additional tries. Fullback Matthew Burns and Avery Tate also touched down, while in the forwards props Rooke Young and Kyle Means used their size and speed to push in for one each. Zach Rademacher converted four in the 48-10 victory.

No. 8 Nick Galbreath, flanker Harry Brown, and newcomer prop Eli Katina were very difficult for Clarksville to contain when carrying the ball.

After being idle for a couple of weeks due to spring break, Harpeth met up with the well-respected Father Ryan team last weekend. This match would go very much like the Clarksville game, with a final score of 63-7. Setting the tone early, hooker Jacob Schoeff stole a Father Ryan scrum put-in, and scrumhalf Jack Shrader fed Reagan, who passed to Rossi, who set up Burns for the try. This pressure would not let up for the entire game.

Wing Avery Tate intercepted a Father Ryan pass and ran it down the right side to score in the corner. Another won scrum by hooker Schoeff allowed Shrader to send the ball to Reagan, who put it out to Rossi for another Harpeth try in the righthand corner. Rademacher converted from the touchline for a 17-0 lead.

Shortly thereafter, Reagan worked a switch move with Rossi and ended up putting the try in himself. Then fullback Matthew Burns scooped up a loose ball off of the restart to race 80 meters. Rossi then scored on a crashball, and then once again right after the restart Harpeth added on. Flanker Harry Brown put his shoulder down and powered for 25 meters; lock Spencer Bennett did much the same, and then Shrader and Reagan set up Rossi for another one.

Reagan would end most of the first XV’s playing time, and the half, by kicking the ball to touch. Harpeth subbed in liberally after that and thy kept up the scoring. 

Reserve scumhalf Jack Ambrose set up prop Rooke Young for a run, and then center finally put it down. Center Peyton Arnold grabbed a loose ball and was in. Amrose sent up a box kick, chased it down, and weaved his way in.

With four minutes remaining, Father Ryan would score their only try of the night from a quick tap. Ambrose answered for Harpeth, and that's how the game ended.

“It's always good to see the familiar faces making plays, but we were very pleased with how some of the new players were stepping up, most notably Spencer Bennett, Christian Moolman, Peyton Arnold, and David and Josh Ebert," said Harlequin Director and Coach, Scott Reagan. "Although Matthew Burns's 80-meter try and Jack Ambrose's box kick try were outstanding individual efforts, Mitch Rossi's crashball and upload from the ground to Jameson Reagan is really what we will try to emulate in practice this week, as we work on developing our offloading game as a team.”