Impressive Rugby Display as Charlotte Cardinals Defeat Okapi Friday

02.28.2026HS Boys

Charlotte Cardinals in action in 2026. Photo Dan Caple.

Author: Alex Goff

In a match that was praised by many observers as an impressive clash of skill and rugby understanding, the Charlotte Cardinals defeated Okapi Wanderers 35-10 in the inaugural Pathway Classic hosted by Anthem RC in Matthews, NC.

The match, broadcast by CRAA, was a superb demonstration of what some of the best high school teams can do, even in the early part of the season. It was also a game in which the scoreline flattered the winners somewhat. Okapi was in this game and were perhaps a bit unlucky not to score more.

Charlotte (ranked #3 by GRR) scored within about 30 seconds. They kicked off deep, put pressure on Joaquin Rodriguez on his clearance kick, and charged it down. The Cardinals recovered, and a nice, flat pass to flyhalf Luke Zehmke saw him bull through to score under the posts. Fullback Max Colson converted for a 7-0 lead.

Okapi (ranked #11) responded well and were inside the Cardinals half, forcing some penalties of impatience by Charlotte.

Eventually Rodriguez slotted a well-taken penalty goal to make it 7-3.

The teams exchanged several kicks, but the kicking wasn’t random and thoughtless. They were varied and a had a plan. Okapi expected to put Charlotte off-balance with their use of the boot combined with some quick ball-handling, but the Cardinals handled it well enough. They didn’t always win the kick battle, but the losses were containable.

The Cardinals were at their best launching off the line, on attack or on defense.

When they exerted pressure in the midfield they were difficult to contain, and off that kind of pressure Colson had a chance out wide, dummied the offload, creating a hole and was through. He converted to make it 14-3.

A long period of phases led to RJ Kieffer crashing over near the end of the first half and with Colson’s conversion it was 21-3.

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Charlotte’s second row combination of Wells O’Mara and Lukas Lupinski were very hard to handle running in the middle, with prop Miles Caple equally difficult. And with Zehmke a threat to run, his passing allowed others to shine.

Okapi’s attack went through Rodriguez and scrumhalf Anthony Salabarria, but No. 8 Joan Codoni was outstanding also. Tomas Milher was very good in the lineout and took that aspect of play away from Charlotte. Penalties, then, didn’t always yield much as Milher and his forwards were often able to disrupt or steal possession.

In the second half Okapi did to Charlotte what had been done to them, charging down the clearance kick and quickly working it over. It took a bit longer than 30 seconds, but they kept it up and after opting for a scrum they ran Codoni off an eightman pick for the try.

Rodriguez converted and it was 21-10.

It stayed that way for a long time. Charlotte’s hard-charging defense was able to take time away from Okapi, and the Wanderers’ ability to steal ball and flip the field meant that both teams had scoring chances but couldn’t convert.

Finally, the constant pressure told. Lupinski, who surely played himself into some higher-level notice in this game, had been getting larger and larger gains each time he carried. And then the dam broke, and the big man crashed through, showing a nice turn of pace to score from 50 meters.

Colson converted and it was 28-10.

It remained that way until late in the match. Okapi kept playing hoping to get one more try. Instead they were penalized, and Colson tapped wuickly and zipped through to finish it off. He converted again—neither goalkicker missed on the day—and ended the match with 20 points.
Additionally, Colson’s ability to handle the Okapi kicking game was impressive.

However, the match was won in the trenches and Lupinski shone there. He was defensively powerful and offensively imposing.

It is difficult to express the quality of this match. Both teams know how to play and there were some small margins that turned the tide for Charlotte. But both teams have much in the way of talent and ability. We hardly mentioned Charlotte’s backline of Cole Eversole, Thomas McKillop, and wings Aiden McLaughlin and Zane Schumacher, but they were very impressive.

This match was a special occasion, but had it been played in an attention vacuum, the performances would have been no less brilliant.