Boy this is a big-time weekend for boys HS rugby.

North Carolina holds its semifinals. Hough and South Meck both feel like they want another shot at Charlotte Catholic and, more pointedly, each other. Hough beat South Meck 34-14 a month ago, but this is playoff rugby and we have seen things shift in North Carolina before. Marvin Ridge could find the right recipe this time around, but we do think Charlotte Catholic is favored in the other semi.

In Southern California, two teams on a bit of a roll meet up in Rancho Cucamonga vs Orange Lutheran.

Led by young Head Coach Cole Seanoa, Rancho has handled the graduation of a ton a seniors with an injection of hard work and athleticism. Driving the bus is scrumhalf Landon Congalton, who, as a sophomore, has become a leader and a spark for the team. He has helped unleash a talented backline that is more than just scoring.

"Our wings arw tackling machines," Seanoa told GRR. "We can use them at center when we need them because of that."

That would be Cayden Turner and Malele Vaiolo. Center Kal El Togafau is a very dangerous runner and he seems to be able to create tries out of nothing. He has scored several clutch tries. Flyhalf and captain McAdam Burke is, said Seanoa, "a flanker at heart. He's not really a 10 but he's playing 10 because we need him there. More, he's just a workhorse. So is his brother."

His brother would be lock Evan Burke, who combines with Bruce Barnier as a hugely effective second row that wins lineouts, powers through on carries, and wins ball. Finally, flanker Gabe Gallegos might be bigger than Congalton but that's about it. Regardless he's the team's top scorer, top ruck specialist, and one of their most ferocious players overall.

While Rancho Cucamonga is 3-0 in the SoCal School-Multi-School league, while Orange Lutheran has started 1-0 in the Single-School league. Head Coach Jay Harris isn't impressed.

"We haven't really done much yet, [but] we are not really worried about who we play," Harris told GRR. "I'm working on our team culture first and how we protray ourselves on and off the field. We have a mox of talent, from boys who have played more than five years to others who are experiencing rugby for the first time. This is a great challenge for our team."

Leadership responsibilities fall, then, on experienced players and that intrasquad mentorship has brought the team closer.

"Our goal," added Harris, "is to make every player on our team just a little better weak after week."

This week will provide a good challenge.

What else? The Louisiana-Texas school league sees St. Thomas out of Houston at a Jesuit New Orleans team that lost relatively big to Okapi but came out of it thinking they can hang tough with a team like that if they just fix their set piece. An up-and-coming HCYA team faces a very strong Strake Jesuit. How Ball-4-All Grant Kick-Started the HCYA Team

New team Martin HS hosts Allen HS in Texas. Dallas plays another newish team in Great Hearts. Dallas Jesuit beat Plano last week thanks to two tries from rivers Amison and 16 points from Alejnadro Andujar with two tries and three conversions.  

Northern California's single-school is heating up and De La Salle vs St Francis is one to watch very closely. St. Francis has a center in Kingston Keanaaina who is very, very difficult to stop. DLS Head Coach Derek Holmber strongly implied that corralling Keanaaina will be a focus for the Spartans.

Jesuit Sacramento hosts a St. Ignatius team that, thanks to some enthusiastic alumni support, was fast-tracked to a place inside the athletic department. Going slowly doesn't seem to fit the Wildcats' DNA.

"The boys set clear goals of taking home NorCal and California state championships," said Head Coach Jack Casey. "Ambition is one of the team's core values, and these goals are in line with that. Our boys are clear-eyed that we play in a very strong NorCal league, and that any element of surprise we enjoyed last year as an upstart program is irrelevant this season. We know the margin for error will be slim, and we'll have to prepare and execute at a high level week in and week out to have a shot at those goals."