Well, well, now we're into it, aren't we?
Brother Martin and Jesuit New Orleans had their game from the weekend postponed and they instead played it Wednesday—NOLA Jesuit won 38-12. Adam Massey, Head Coach at NOLA Jesuit, said is team is very young, with some key positions still be settled upon. So it was a good showing from a young Jesuit side, but, added Massey, things are only going to get hard from now on. So this will be a useful learning season for the Blue Jays as they develop those young players.
Southern California's school season enters its playoffs with the semifinals. Loyola plays Orange Lutheran in the meeting of relatively new school teams. These teams haven't played yet (the game they were supposed to play didn't happen because of another event at Loyola being a conflict). So now we will know. Keep in mind that lost to Torrey Pines 25-24 and beat Los Alamitos 24-21, and remember Los Al lost to Torrey Pines 15-12. So based on those results everyone is really close. Torrey plays Los Al in the other semi.
In North Carolina it's also semifinal time. Friday night sees a very powerful-looking Hough host new program Sun Valley. It has been very nice to see these new and fledgling school teams not only start up but succeed. Having experienced HS club players in the school helps, but it's more than that.
The Northern California single-school season keeps going on while the clubs are building toward the official Premier HS Club season. Once the single-school season wraps up, Jesuit and De La Salle stay on to play in that Premier league, while players from other schools disperse to join clulbs such as SFGG, Marin, Lamorinda, and more.
Two of the four NorCal games are a little bigger than the other two. St. Ignatius (another new team and the one pictured above) hosts Bishop O'Dowd. While O'Dowd is 2-0 they know they have some tough games to follow.
We checked in with St. Ignatius, in their first season, this week. Head Coach Jack Casey (who is also a teacher at the school, which always helps) and he has some accomplished alumni on staff including former pro and Saint Mary's star Kevin O'Connor, former Cal player Kevin Sullivan, and former Regis standout Kevin Comen—that's right, three Kevins.
With over 50 players coming out and 16 of them with rugby experience, Ignatius has started their journey running.
"Our main goals are #1, retention of numbers—build something that guys want to be a part of; #2, foster a learning environment; and #3, compete with confidence," explained Casey. Smart words. They aren't getting too caught up in results and, of course, then the results are coming. With senior tighthead prop Johnny O'Brien providing a crucial building block and No. 8 Flynn O'Connell along with scrumhalf TK Page providing excellent leadership, the Wildcats are a team to watch.
Meanwhile, more established teams meet up, as well. Jesuit of Sacramento plays De La Salle in a huge clash of powers. Jesuit has been hit with losses, but don't count them out yet. DLS hasn't really been tested yet, and they will be this week.
NorCal HS Sees Challengers Put Hands Up
Missed in the video below is Danville vs Elsie Allen. Danville has struggled to find wins so far but is a team to watch is they build, while Elsie Allen has started on fire in the NorCal Gold league. Elsie Allen doesn't lose much at home and the last team to beat them there was Danville in 2020 just before COVID descended. It's a good rivalry reborn.
Finally, in Florida it is the second week of competition and we get a look at who might fall where. Tampa had a good preseason and now, after a bye week, faces a Key Biscayne team that won big in Week 1. Jacksonville has some potential despite a loss last week to Okapi, and while Okapi has a bye week, the Wolverines play a Boca Raton team that won over Gibbons the week before.
Clutch Try Sees Boca Past Gibbons
