Gearing up for their appearance at the Boys HS Rugby National Championships, the Carmichael Hawks unleashed their elusive, open-field style to beat East Palo Alto for the Rugby Norcal Gold championship.
One level below the Premier, NorCal's Gold division is for teams that are often as talented as those in Premier, but usually the clubs just have fewer players.
Certainly the finalists had rugby talent. Carmichael started well, making the Razorhawks' hard-hitting defenders struggle to line up their targets.
Central to this was flyhalf and co-captain Devin Pointes, who was also stepping and slipping through gaps.
The Hawks were pinned in their own end for the first 10 minutes. They struggled to get out of trouble, but finally a kick exchange between the teams resulted in Pointes catching a kick, sidestepping past three defenders and taking off down the field.
He linked with fullback Seti Perona, who was just getting over the line as he was hit. Concerned he might be held up, Perona offloaded to center Peyton Templeton for the try.
It was a nice combination of athletic talent, unselfishness and hustle.
More concerted defensive pressure produced another try for Carmichael before EPA charged over in response.
But Carmichael's teamwork was impressive, as it should be with a team where some players have been playing together for 12 years.
