Massive Day in California HS Action Plus Big Travel Games Nationwide

02.20.2026HS Boys

Jesuit vs Cathedral from Saturday, Feb 14, 2026. Photo David Barpal.

Jesuit of Sacramento beat Cathedral Catholic last week and now turn their eyes back to league play. Photo David Barpal.

Author: Alex Goff

Boys High School rugby has its annual kickoff in the desert with the Puriri Memorial Invitational, but there's more going on than that.

Travel Games

Even as North Carolina's school competition has wound down, the clubs are getting started. They won't play league this weekend, but we will see the Charlotte Cardinals travel all the way across the country to play San Mateo Wolverines in a clash of the 2024 HS Club champion and the 2024 HS Tier II champs.

Both teams bring in players from a few different school teams. The Wolverines have been on the field, but it's hard to put a lot of weight into their results until they get all of their players installed. The Cardinals will be bolstered heavily by players from the two North Carolina school finalists in Charlotte Catholic and Huskies.

For the Cardinals, they are all about testing themselves, and next Friday Florida HS leaders Okapi will be at Charlotte Cardinals in a week as part of MLR's Anthem Rugby's promotion of younger levels of the game. Ohio State plays Queens the same day.

That's not the only big-time preseason game. Gonzaga vs Gregory the Great was a GGA win last year and a harbinger of how strong Greg's was and how Gonzaga had some work to do. Those two play again this weekend. Watch for a much-changed Gonzaga team.

Fort Hunt takes on Doylestown in the beginning of very challenging non-conference seasons for both. Doylestown will play Xavier, Charlotte Cardinals, Charlotte Tigers, and Regis Jesuit before league play begins, so they're not fooling around.

Florida

What about league play? Boca vs Okapi is a battle of two undefeated teams. The thing about Boca, who are playing very well, is that they have won two really close games with Key Biscayne. Those types of games can stand a team in good stead.

Okapi, as strong as they are expected to be, have not been tested in the same way—three wins and an average score of 42-4. Boca have an excellent back row and strength down the middle. They will need it.

SoCal

In Southern California, it's playoff time.

Torrid First Half Sees LCC Past St. Augustine

La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines played a tight one last game. Torrey Pines might be thought of as a team that kicks and works the wide channels, but really it's their power and physicality that has made them difficult.

LCC has some players with immense work rates, and we have potentially two of the best (and very different) No. 8s in the state, if not further afield, in Luke Hensley for the Mavericks and Shay Farkash for the Falcons.

Mira Costa has quietly played well when it counted and they take on an Orange Lutheran that is defensively sound, led by Auma Jennings and Marcus Fakatou.

The winners of these two games play in the final next week, and then look ahead to the All-California finals.

There is also the multi-school semis—teams that generally represent a single high school, but not strictly, so they have a separate league. Oceanside plays Rancho Cucamonga and Murrieta plays San Clement, all at San Clemente HS. Oceanside is the #1 seed by virtua of their 34-19 win over San Clemente a month ago.

But a lot can change in a month.

NorCal

It's all to play for in what is once again a very competitive Northern California School division. Doing into this weekend, St. Francis is 2-1, Rio Americano 2-1, Jesuit 1-1, and De La Salle 1-1. St. Ignatius is a good team, but winless so far because every game is so challenging.

Jesuit is starting to piece somethings together, so this weekend's night game with St. Francis is a huge one. It's almost a must-win for both. For St. Francis, this is their final conference game. and they could end the evening in a commanding position, or at 2-2 and on the outside looking in.

De La Salle plays Ignatius and is favored there, but they will follow that up next week with a clash with rivals Jesuit in a game that could be for the top seed.

Rio Americano is idle, but plays St. Ignatius next week, with an excellent prospect of finishing up 3-1.

But, really, the way this season has gone there are no guarantees. Jesuit has an additional bonus point for a close loss, and that could well be the difference.