Penn HS and Royal Irish started the Rugby Indiana Super League on a winning note, as once again the league of four ranked teams kicks off.

Royal Irish played two games, one in-league and one not, beating Brownsburg 25-10 and then on Sunday defeating Ohio-based Archbishop Moeller School 41-9. 

It was a good weekend for the defending HS club NIT champs.

“We’re looking OK,” said Coach Scott Peterson. “I wouldn’t say we’re where we need to be, but we’re getting better at certain things every game.”

The problem for the Royal Irish is that a series of player unavailabilities (we asked Peterson the reasons, and he said “you name it”) has meant it’s been difficult to establish consistency.

“We’ve had a lack of continuity,” said Peterson. “But guys have done a good job filling in. We’ll see how far that can go.”

This week, defending Rugby Ohio champs St. Ignatius, fresh from a stinging loss to St. Edward, hosts  Royal Irish at Ohio State University.

Meanwhile, Penn defeated Notre Dame de LaSalette 30-12. Of note, the teams’ JV squads tied 28-28. 

Junior Jack White provided some good go-forward from loose forward (he changed positions during the game). LaSalette played some good pressure defense, and they scored on two interception tries as a result. But with the Vakalahi brothers, Will and Cedric, running on the the second half, Penn went from being behind 12-3 to winning 30-12.

Next up, Penn hosts Brownsburg, and LaSalette hosts HSE in a non-league game.

In DI, several teams played warmup games, with Bishop Dwenger beating Avon, Marian over Westfield, and Carroll over HSE. In the first league game for either the North or the South, Avon edged North Central 10-5.

In DII, it’s still all to play for, with Carroll, Homestead, Carmel, and Pike starting well. But the meat of the season is to come.