Herriman Wins Utah HS 7s
Herriman Wins Utah HS 7s
Herriman HS won the Utah Youth Rugby Boys HS 7s after the final tournament in the fall series, but fell to United in the tournament final.
Herriman Gold was a little banged up after the previous three tournaments, but still got through pool play against Barbarians West, Herriman Red, and Herriman Navy. (Red is the Herriman 2nd team, and the Navy team is the Herriman's top JV side, which was bumped up to the Varsity level for this tournament.)
For the 3rd time, Herriman met Kau Toa in the semifinals. Kau Toa exploited some Herriman mistakes, but the Gold team pulled the game out 19-12. However, Gabe Mahuinga got his second yellow card of the day, and thus was unavailable to play in the final.
That final was against United. Herriman was able to get on the board first, with captain Zak Barker powering over for a try, putting two defenders on their back in the process. United answered back quickly, as a high pass in the Herriman backline took a bounce and then found the arms of a charging United defender. He was chased down, but Herriman was dinged for a high tackle and the ball was spun wide to take advantage of a still-retreating defense for a try and a 7-5 United lead.
Taysan Hammer repeatedly made headway through the United defense, but they swarmed him to stop the offloads. On one such occasion, United's Bailey Wilson poached the ball at the breakdown and set up a nice two-on-one for another United try.
Herriman would answer immediately on the second half restart, with Zak and Jake Barker moving the ball through the phases, and Ethan Burrows charging to receive a nice offload and finish off the try. The makable conversion was missed, however, and United remained up two points. The next several minutes saw United continue to play well - as well as they've played all season. Herriman seemed to be snakebit. Burrows had to come off momentarily for blood, and then John Thompson was yellow carded for a high tackle at midfield. Both teams had been warned that there could be a card coming for repeated infringements, and Thompson was the next guilt party. Shorthanded, Herriman almost scored, but the rubber ahead was fielded by a United defender, and taken 99 meters the other way. United led 19-10.
Herriman replied when Hammer made a long break and, after again drawing in several defenders, found a streaking Barker in support for a try under the posts with 20 seconds left. The rushed conversion by Sione Mahe went over, but the ensuing restart with the clock winding down was just a bit deep. United kicked out with the scoreboard clock showing zeroes, but official Aaron Ormsby ruled that his official time showed for the lineout. Herriman had one more chance, but the throw-in was called not straight to end the game.
United played an excellent game and showed how tough the Utah series has become.
Herriman Gold ended the series 19-1 and their third straight Utah Youth Rugby 7s title. The Herriman Navy team won the JV championships by a large margin.