Northeast HS Games Latest: Who's Moving Up?
Northeast HS Games Latest: Who's Moving Up?
This was a very eventful weekend in Boys High School rugby in the Northeast, so let's take a look.
Connecticut
Greenwich, Trumbull, and Fairfield Rugby Club all logged wins in Connecticut this weekend.
The Fairfield Pegasi got two tries from Brendan Walsh and tries from Sebastian Guzman, Louis Sorocco, and Wilbur Hughes to beat Staples 33-26.
This was a pretty big win for Fairfield, who scored two late tries to come back to win it. They have been showing significant improvements over the past couple of weeks.
Greenwich used their tough defense and a smart kicking game to sliced up Fairfield Prep 43-12 on Friday night.
Floris Van de Rotte scored three tries on the evening, while Nick Hvatum, Julen Guazo-Badiola, Teo Ballerio, and Ben Schacher all got over the line.
Given that Greenwich had beaten Staples only 14-10 in March, and Staples and Fairfield had played to a 30-29 Prep win, you might expect this game to be close, too. But Greenwich's game with Staples was their first of the season, and they have been steadily showing signs of improvement since.
Speaking of improvement, Trumbull has been enjoying a solid season and beat Ridgefield 59-19 this weekend.
Keane Horne and Brady Smith both logged hat-tricks for Trumbull while Lorenzo Sevilla scored two and Maverick Coppola added one. Trumbull has already beaten the Fairfield club and also Fairfield Prep, as well as Simsbury and Pelham.
Maine and New Hampshire
High School rugby in Maine is happening. Nine teams have been started with Waterville, Berwick, Seacoast, Asmoskeag, Portland, Freeport, Presque Isle, Lincoln, and Tri-County are on the field and we'll see a lot of 7s in May and June. It's just a start, but it's a good start.
This is huge news for Northern New England. It's been a long road, badly interrupted by COVID, and something we need.
Massachusetts
BC High traveled south to play Georgetown Prep and came away with an impressive 48-30 victory. The Eagles jumped out to an early lead but the Hoyas worked their way back to close the gap. But as time went on and with captain and loosehead prop Mikey Smith scoring three tries, BC High took a 49-18 lead late in the game.
Georgetown Prep kept coming and scored two tries late to make it 48-30.
BC High fullback scored a try, a penalty goal, and added five conversions for 18 points.
"We continue to be a work in progress, and will need to solve some issues heading into conference play," said Head Coach Paul Carty.
Belmont HS just returned from a tour of Italy and come in with wins over Ridgefield, Lincoln-Sudbury, and Milton, plus a tie with Xaverian Brothers (BC High's next opponent).
Center Colin Green was outstanding for Belmont on tour, while Jack Townsend has been handling the attack well from flyhalf. Captain Billy Hendrickson is a tackling machine in the forwards, while Zak Zaddem showed well at lock in Italy.
In their competitive loss to Villorba Rugby Club on tour Belmont entertained the crowd thanks to center Wyatt Sclafani, who unveiled his accented Italian. He played well and also engaged the fans with some of his Italian phrases.
New Jersey and New York
One up-and-comer out of New Jersey is Delbarton. The Green Wave had a rough season last year but they have come back to this season with an attitude that they didn’t really like losing games. They opened the season with a loss to Fordham, and Head Coach John Majano-Lopez said that game was a key moment for the players.
“Last season we lost the majority of our league games but the guys came back and were hungry,” Majano-Lopez told GRR. “How we played against Fordham was a big turning point. We lost but we shut them out in the second half. That changed our attitude.
After that, they played Christian Brothers Academy, a team that beat them handily in 2024.
“We saw a lot of young guys step up,” said Majano-Lopez.
Down 24-19 and with two players in the sin bin, the Green Wave got a huge play from lock Patrick Goetz, who stole a lineout throw and rumbled almost 80 meters to score. August Goyal slotted the game-winning conversion, and suddenly Delbarton had the 26-24 victory.
That has given the Delbarton team the confidence to start talking about a state title.
“We’ve been training all year,” said Majano-Lopez. “Our guys gave up their winter to train rugby in England and prepare for this season.”
The Delbarton players played a team that is part of the Leicester Tigers pathway and trained with Tigers coaches.
“It gave us some insight into a team that goes year-round. It was intense and it was eye-opening for a lot of us,” said the coach.
The fruition of all of this was last week when Delbarton played a good Morris team and won 45-17. Hooker Antonio Conte was a force at hooker in his general play but especially as a ballcarrier. A thrower in track and field, Conte has used his physical power to embrace rugby.
His brother Nick is an effective player, also, but the team’s fortunes do seem to rest on the powerful shoulders of Goetz at lock. He is the captain, a clutch player, and crucial to their work up front.
However ... this week Delabrton got a bit of a wakeup call against Pelham out of New York. Pelham beat Delbarton 41-14. Christian King has been ill but he is back on the field for Pelham and he was outstanding, scoring four tries in the first half.
Head Coach Matt Persanis had praise for Delabrton and was rather straightforward about his own team.
"We can be good," he said. "We have had guys missing games. But then we go out and have a great game?" Curious indeed.
