HS Games This Weekend: Nationals On Our Mind

Wel over 200 Boys HS teams are in action this weekend with Utah and Tennessee deciding state champions.

But we are also looking at where teams that have been invited to the National Championships are leveling out.  

We already saw some really exciting games this week with Georgetown Prep tying Gonzaga, and Salesianum coming back to beat St. Augustine. 

In SoCal, we've got the second week of SCIRF while the Southern California HS club league moves on as well. The SOC Raptors impressed last week and should build on that this week. They beat Back Bay 40-10, scores six tries from six different players and winning a very physical game between players who know each other well from their time playing for the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy SoCal team.

Lochie Treister continues to score tries for the Raptors, Manny Borboa is an exciting finisher, and hooker Sammy McMillan always seems to be in the middle of the action. Fullback Mike Lewis, Leo Jay, Marcus Nguyen, and Jacob Bower all scored for a good, and improving, SOC team.

But perhaps the game to really watch for is Thunder Rugby, unbeaten so far, against a very talented Belmont Shore outfit.

In Missouri and Kansas, there's much to play for still. St. Louis University High plays St. Thomas Aquinas this weekend and that's a big one in terms of seeing where both sit right now. SLUH warmed up for this with a victory over Eureka on Thursday night. the coaches of the two teams know each other well so SLUH went into the game knowing Eureka was missing about seven players to injury. As a result, SLUH eased back and rested a few guys for the Aquinas game. They still scored 45 points (45-12) and with center Graham Johnson scoring two and scrumhalf Connor Gunn moving the ball well, they saw their backs exploit space.

Fairfield Prep plays Simsbury, Fairfield Pegasi play Ridgefield, and top-ranked teams Staples and Greenwich clash in Connecticut this week. That last one was Friday night. We've got the score and we'll have a report soon.

In Idaho Capital HS remains undefeated and is playing some solid rugby right now.

Illinois teams are starting to gain some traction, but they are not allowed to play outside the Land of Lincoln, so they are making do. Monarch vs Palmer is the top game in CIRA in Colorado, while in Indiana it's probably Brownsburg vs Royal Irish.

Some great action last weekend at the Midwest Tournament. Well-run, beautiful grass, and some big hits. Have a look. @RugbyOhio@RugbyIndiana@SIHS_Varsity15s@MoellerRugby@DwengerRugby@royalirishrugbypic.twitter.com/xrfXlWKtyj

— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) May 6, 2021

Germantown plays Harpeth for the state title in Tennessee, while there are several titles to be had in Utah. Olympus vs Herriman is the Varsity Red championships, basically the single-school-team trophy; Genesis vs West Valley is the Blue/White Tier 1 championship for the best HS clubs. These two matchups happened earlier in the year and both were very, very tight games.

Danville is playing Jesuit and it appears the testing feedback was good so they will be playing in Sacramento. Injuries from players coming right out of football and then into rugby, often with restrictions on contact training, have hit both teams. (Think about it and yes, not a surprise.) Still this might be an indication of where these two teams are heading to the National Championships.

And in Washington, Eastside and Liberty both won their openers. So of course they meet this week.

Eastside just got by Budd Bay thanks to a big game from center and captain Nick Davis and flanker Max Rhodes. Wings Hayden Edwards and Callum Howell scored tries, as did Davis. Budd Bay got two from Kaleb Schertenlieb. Now Liberty looks to unseat the Lions in a league where it's not uncommon to see a #4 seed two win in the playoffs.

Check back for scores.