HS Nationals School Teams: Favorites to Final
HS Nationals School Teams: Favorites to Final
The big favorites and rivals will meet for the Boys HS National Championship school-team championship, but we also saw some surprises on Day Two.
Consolation Semis
Xavier defeated Jesuit 20-19 in a result that was certainly a bit of an upset. Jesuit wasn’t helped by a red card for a tip tackle that was completely unnecessary. But Xavier played smart. They entered halftime down 12-8 but had the wind in the second half.
The Xavier forwards battled well and Xavier found some space out wide and they held Jesuit to just the one try.
Staples and Greenwich renewed their rivalry and it was a case of Greenwich playing one of their more unified games of the season. Having been slammed badly by Gonzaga the day before, Greenwich brought it for the second day. Staples, which had been dealing with illness (the flu) during the days leading up to the championship, were a bit flat.
Head Coach Neal Seideman said it wasn’t post-flu fatigue that was the team’s problem, it was an assumption that Thursday’s big loss for Greenwich meant the game wouldn’t be difficult.
It was a classic case of the top six inches telling the story. Greenwich 30 Staples 12.
Gonzaga vs Herriman
In a game that the Gonzaga captains said was one of the most physical and most fun games they had played, Gonzaga weathered a ferocious Herriman start to win.
A brilliant day from scrumhalf Joey Ries led the way for Gonzaga as they pulled away 32-14. For Gonzaga, this was perhaps their best performance in a season where they have played 17 ranked opponents.
Gonzaga’s forwards and the discipline in their forwards was key.
St. Ignatius vs St.Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas started the game with the wind and looked to translate that into territory. They kicked on numerous occasions, but the Ignatius deep three handled those kicks relatively well. The result was that Ignatius spent a long period of time in the Aquinas 22, on attack or on defense, but nothing much moved after that.
When they were under territorial pressure, Ignatius opted not to kick into the ever-strengthening breeze, and instead ran out of trouble. That worked somewhat, and then, late in the first half center Ryan Putka broke through, found his brother Tim, and put the flanker in under the posts for a huge score. With the conversion, St. Ignatius led going into halftime.
In the second half, Ignatius started to press their advantage. Flyhalf and captain Bobby Voth slotted a penalty moments into the second period, and they added two more tries, both converted, to cap off the game Ryan Putka scored one of those and the forwards slammed one over as well.
For Ignatius, they were unhappy with their handling errors and felt they had left points unclaimed. Probably true, but they also held a very potent Aquinas team scoreless.
For Aquinas, their set piece was excellent, with their lineout executed brilliantly. But they couldn’t break the Ignatius wall, and the Ignatius forwards, led by Sean Ward, John Reddy, and a commitment to winning rucks and winning the point of contact, carried the Wildcats to the final.
