What a wild weekend in Boys HS rugby.
We went over some of the big games here:
Eastside of Washington Shuts Out Touring Granite Bay
Marin, SFGG Take Big Victories in NorCal
Gonzaga Holds Off Ignatius in Freezing Cleveland
Charlotte Cardinals Ride Strong Second Half to Beat Tigers
Reports and Thoughts from SLUH Tournament Day One
Mustangs Win Big Battle in SoCal
BC High Takes NE Jesuit Tournament at Fairfield
STA Impresses at SLUH Tournament
Scores this weekend
Texas
Woodlands battled Four Points in Austin and came away with a 40-17 win. Woodlands opened the scoring when No. 8 Sky Feletoa caught the Four Points defense off-guard with a quick tap and raced in. Scrumhalf Neel Menon would add the first of his five conversion to make the score 7-0. After a scrum just inside the Four Points half, Woodlands went through several phases before fullback Tate Standridge sprinted 25 meters to put the Woodlands up 14-0 with the conversion. Four Points kept battling and their back row worked hard to produce a try to make it 14-7.
Woodlands got back on the gas and four minutes into the second half hooker Mason Wilson scored the first of his two tries on the day. He got his second soon thereafter to make it 26-7. Four Points answered with a penalty goal. Woodlands center Junior Alatini ran in and, as Woodlands rang the changes, reserve Orin Hart scored his first varsity try from a Woodlands lineout and it was 40-10.
Four Points got the final points with Woodlands giving away several penalties and finally Four Points was over.
"I was happy we got six sophomores and a freshman significant minutes at the varsity level today," said Woodlands Head Coach Werner Marx. "It is never easy playing Four Points. They are well-coached and play a very physical brand of rugby. I expect nothing less from a team coached by Eric Reed, a former Eagle. I have a ton of respect for Eric and his program."
Aspetuck vs Vienna
Vienna defeated Aspetuck 21-14 just to shake up the HS club pecking order—Vienna had previously lost to Berks, which had then lost to Aspetuck, so you'd figure Aspetuck would be favored. The game started in torrential rain, which began to ease up as the afternoon progressed. With both sides missing players as the result of Spring Break and injuries, it was certainly up in the rain-soaked air. Despite the conditions it wasn't an all-forwards game. Four of the five tries were scored by backs, and despite the wind and wet all five were converted.
Aspetuck opened the scoring after about 14 minutes, putting center Jason Champagne through under the posts, slipping through tackles. Vienna then tied the score with a strong run down the left side by inside center Matthew Vojta. That made it 7-7, and soon Vienna was ahead 14-7 thanks to center Oscar Espanol powered through tacklers to go in under the sticks.
That made it 14-7 at halftime.
The second half saw Vienna score again, with #wing Elio Osario going through to make it 21-7.
The rest of the game remained competitive and very physical. Aspetuck pressured the Vienna goalline and were held out for a while. But finally No. 8 Luke Benway powered over. Vienna, however, held firm after that.
Ohio
A very good Medina side beat Warrior Rugby 31-22 behind two tries from flanker Bryce Morris.
In a game that would secure the winner a spot as HS Nationals, St. Ed's held off a hard-hitting Moeller side. Flanker Patrick Andrews scored four tries in this game, sparking St. Edward to a 40-19 win. Lock Joshua Johnson, No. 8 Danny Serrano, hooker Matthew Daugherty, and Demarion Lyons scoring off the reserves bench. Having defeated both St. X. and Moeller, St. Edward has only in-city St. Ignatius in the four-team top league in Ohio.
03.25.2024HS Boys
Xavier vs Rye
As a storm dumped torrential rains across Westchester County and the New York Metro area, the Xavier varsity rugby first side took on the Garnets of Rye High School, but as it turned out, the weather would not be not much of a factor for the Knights.
“A lot of the lessons that we learned in the Fort Hunt game, a game that we played in similar conditions, we took to heart,” said Xavier forwards coach Ski Bailey. “We learned and adjusted. There was a good, dominant performance from the forwards in the first half and in the second half, the backs started turning it on.”
Xavier’s first score came two minutes into the first half, as senior wing Padraig Long ran thirty meters in. Center Benedetto Loria slotted the conversion into the wind. It was a ground battle from that point on in the first half, with Xavier’s next try scored by senior prop Christopher Killen. Four minutes later senior flanker Medhi Merah punched one in with Loria adding another two points to make it 19-0 at halftime.
In the second half, Rye battled in the red zone but was not able to get one across, and as the weather cleared, the Xavier backs went to work. Loria had a momentum-shifting try 21 minutes into the half and senior flyhalf Alex Zagoras, back after an injury, closed out Xavier’s scoring with a beautiful 25-meter run for a try with Loria knocking in the conversion. When the whistle blew to end the game, it was 31-0 Xavier.
“I think we have been waiting for this game since last season,” Zagoras said. “We finally have our momentum going. Our set pieces were amazing and everything was flowing today.” Loria agreed saying “We played great goal-line defense and we scored tries off of scrums. That was our best performance of the season and it shows what type of team we are going forward.”
Senior No. 8 and team captain Emir Yuksel was proud of the team’s performance. “From the first whistle, we got the ball and we pounded. We had good set pieces, phase play, and set-piece attacks. We also had multiple plays where we gained yards off of lineouts. We were pretty well disciplined but our scrumming needs a little work, we had too many penalties off the scrum.”
Backs coach Eamonn Matthews also expressed pride in the team but underscored the prep work that the players did for the match. “Rye is a great program and although we got them this game, we made sure we did our homework. We gave them all the respect that they’ve earned and deserved by preparing hard to play them. I think we showed that on the field today.”
Utah
Herriman won a wild game against Highland that was replete with cards and not the best advertisement of the game. Highland led early and Herriman needed to come back. It wasn't their best showing but they also need to be ready for every team. Herriman 34 Highland 21.
Layton Christian Academy looked impressive in beating a well-regarded East HS team 45-27.
The Cavemen keep winning and this week took down the South Davis Bison 64-21. Based in American Fork Utah, Cavemen Rugby has built from a youth only program into a well-rounded club.
Pennsylvania
St. Joe's Prep ran out to a huge lead over La Salle College HS before running in the reserves. Center Sean McNulty was ferocious in attack and partnered nicely with his center partner Leyton Ruck making for a formidable midfield pairing. Greg Phillips was a force at lock while Greg Phillips handled the fullback position well. The score ended up 49-32.
Berks looked solid in defeating Doylestown 31-12. Berks was in control early and made several changes in the second half. And Gregory the Great looked very good in defeating another unbeaten school team, Cumberland Valley.
Idaho
Eagle made a trip to the Cascade Conference area in Washington, beating Wenatchee 64-0. Not to be outdone they want back to Idaho and beat Rigby 67-0 in a rainstorm (what is with the rain all over the country this week??).
Eagle is led by captain and fullback Rafael Gonzales and center Gavin Crawford.
Kansas City Jr. Blues in the Move
The KC Jr. Blues went to Tennessee to play 901 and Christian Brothers HS. They defeated 901 22-18 on Saturday with tries from Aiden Chavez, Owen Cichello, Vince Jacoby, and Seth Tali. Chavez added two conversions and a penalty.
It was a long trip to Memphis and the team was stressed also because they were missing 18 players due to injuries, unavailabilities, and religious commitments. Still they started strong and led 15-8 at halftime. In the second half 901 added a penalty and then a covnerted try to lead 18-15.
"The fatigue of travel and lack of subs had set in but we battled back and found our second wind defending our line then spending the last quarter of the game in the 901 half," said KC Head Coach Casey Cummings.
Finally Tali pounded over the line at the last play for a try and Aiden Chavez converted for a 22-18 win for the Jr Blues.
Sunday the Junior Blues face faced CBHS with shorter, 25-minute, halves and won 34-0 with six tries from five different players: Vince Jacoby, Aiden Chavez, Kade Giegerich, Tyrese Wulue, Johannes Versfeld. Chavez converted two.
"It was a great weekend on the road for the 4th time this year," said Cummings.
