North Carolina Looks to Single-School League Semis
North Carolina Looks to Single-School League Semis
North Carolina's single-school season is almost at its culmination with this weekend's semifinals taking us one step closer to a champion.
Last week was NC's bye week designed to handle postponements, but the weather has been kind to the region and no one had to make up games, which was a bit of a surprise. All that meant that the top four teams were able to rest up and prepare for what promises to be a tight final couple of weekends.
It's worth noting that the four teams in the semifinals have exactly one loss among them.
#1 Seed Hough (6-0) vs #4 Laney HS (5-1).
Hough allowed just 26 points over their six games, and it's that stingy defense that should see them through. On the converse, newcomers Laney HS didn't score much, but that meant they were able to battle it out in close games.
Hough does not have a lot of big players, but that usually means they have a bit of a chip on their shoulders, and that's true here, too.
"We focus on spreading the ball and changing the point of contact as much as possible," said Head Coach Bruce Colson. "We have only four seniors so we're still a pretty young team, and unlike most other teams we don’t get any crossovers from the school football teams after their Fall season so numbers are always an issue."
That means they often only have a bench of three or four players. How did they go undefeated then?
"The secret to our success has been the hard work each boy puts in and balancing our very light roster numbers to keep 15 players available game time," said Colson.
Hough is blessed with a really strong scrumhalf-flyhalf hinge of Porter Kuebler and Zach Colson.
"So much of our play revolves around them," said Colson the elder.
In addition, experienced players in the front row like Colby Marr and Jacob Eroh set an excellent platform and hard-hitting, mobile forwards like George Prinsloo, Dylan Natal, and Kai Campbell are excellent tacklers. Out wide Beyond Bembry and Chase Dixon are the rapier and the shield.
"No secrets," added Colson. "Just hard work and always hoping that we don’t get too many injuries so we can field a full team every week. We expect Laney to be physical and so we will need to have a wits about us this Friday and here’s hoping we can challenge for the final the following week."
Laney Head Coach Jim Wiseman is wary of the challenge.
"For the two years I have been involved with HS rugby in North Carolina, Hough has been the team on top," said Wiseman. "We have not had the chance to play them but they have to be a well coached and fundamentally strong team to win like they do against a lot of really good teams. We are just very excited to get to play in a game like this. I am into year 15 of coaching rugby and the development I have seen from this group of almost all new players over the past couple of months has been nothing short of amazing. We have to be big underdogs this weekend, but these boys are ready to go up there and compete."
Leading scorer and captain Mason Wiseman has been excellent, but he picked up an injury. Javian Johnson stepped in for him, and he's an example of one of those players who has come on in leaps and bounds. Lock/flanker Max Buckingham leads the charge up front and No. 8 Aiden Reece has been a key player also.
#2 Marvin Ridge vs #3 South Mecklenburg
The only blemish on either record here is South Meck's early tie with Charlotte Catholic. Even if South Meck had won that game they would have been #3 as the bonus points didn't fall in their favor.
For Marvin Ridge, another new team in NC's school league, this has been a bit of dream season. As we reported earlier on Marvin Ridge, they have pushed the traditional rugby culture hard, and it has paid off. With the younger players being more experienced in rugby, the older players have had to defer to their underclassmen when it comes to understanding the game. That has equalized the pecking order, and made the Mavericks unified.
"It’s our first time in a State Championship semifinal, so adrenaline is definitely pumping," said Head Coach Alan Mitchell. "We know we are facing a formidable opponent - South Meck are defending state champs, so we have been working hard to be prepared. We’ve been building our skill set, refining some plays and improving key combinations game on game. We've spent the last couple of weeks continuing to do that."
About half Friday's gameday roster is completely new to rugby—almost all of that group had never even seen a game let alone played it.
"We’ve come a long way in a short space of time," said Mitchell. "Being in the semifinals is testament to the character and work ethic of our athletes. These guys are up for the challenge; they definitely want to take this all the way."
Led by co-captain Easton Yancey and with No. 8 Nate Rawls and scrumhalf Ethan Hurwitz combining nicely at the base of the scrum, they certainly could take it all the way. If they do, it will be because they play together.
This might be a low-scoring semifinal. Marvin Ridge and South Meck tied for second in the league in fewest points allowed.
"We have a super aggressive defense that has been very stingy all season," said South Meck Head Coach Rick Norvell. But they can also score.
"We have multiple attack options that we can modify to beat any team," Norvell added. "We are definitely a better team than when the season started. We had a handful of new guys mixed with several kids who have played for me since middle school. These guys have put in the work getting the newer guys up to speed quickly then adding layers upon layers of different attack schemes. South Meck is a very rounded and deep team with very little let-off from starters to the eight off the bench. We often have to decide who starts based on how practice goes during the week."
Still, a few have risen above what is a very stolid squad. New to rugby is Allan Grey Diminich, who has embraced his job at scrumhalf. He has mastered South Meck's quick-tempo attack and worked very hard to get better each week. His shiftiness and his decision-making are part of the reason why South Meck is better now than they were.
| North Carolina School | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Total |
| Hough High School | 6 | 0 | 0 | 221 | 24 | 197 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| Marvin Ridge High School | 6 | 0 | 0 | 217 | 51 | 166 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| South Mecklenburg High School | 5 | 0 | 1 | 146 | 51 | 95 | 4 | 0 | 26 |
| Laney High School | 5 | 1 | 0 | 126 | 75 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Charlotte Catholic High School | 4 | 1 | 1 | 191 | 64 | 127 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| Clayton/Corinth High School, NC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 112 | 144 | -32 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Clover High School | 2 | 4 | 0 | 93 | 183 | -90 | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| Caps Rugby/Broughton HS | 2 | 4 | 0 | 118 | 126 | -8 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Myers Park High School | 2 | 4 | 0 | 123 | 159 | -36 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Langtree Academy | 1 | 5 | 0 | 57 | 197 | -140 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Ardrey Kell High School | 1 | 5 | 0 | 94 | 177 | -83 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Providence High School, NC | 1 | 5 | 0 | 71 | 165 | -94 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Seaforth High School | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
