De La Salle remains atop the NorCal Single-School D1 after the Spartans beat St. Ignatius SF 45-21.
Three tries from center Jimmy Rainsford led DLS to their 4th straight win in the competition. Head Coach Derek Holmberg had praise for Ignatius, saying that the Wildcats are "really well coached and the players played with a lot of heart. Really impressive for a second year program."
DLS did find some playing time for players who need it, but this was still a good showing from Ignatius.
The big battle was in the middle of Tier 1, where two 2-1 teams, Jesuit of Sacramento and St. Francis faced off. The talk about St. Francis is usually about how "athletic" they are which can sometimes be a backhanded compliment because it can overlook how a team understand its rugby. And that, said Jesuit Head Coach Andrew Acosta, was part of the difference.
St. Francis is a snappy combination of athleticism and rugby knowledge and they beat the Marauders 45-24. The Lancers scored seven tries by seven different players, an indication of how good their support running is. Kevin Keanaaina, Sefanaia Alatini, Solomone Pifeleti, Sione Tonga, Kingston Keanaaina, Shepherd Cramer, and Utaesoni Pifeleti all touched down in this win, with the latter Pifeleti adding four conversions.
With that win St. Francis improved to 3-1.
