Raptors Rugby defeated 901 41-12 to snap up the Tennessee Boys HS state title Saturday.
The game started, as it always does between these two sides, with plenty of hard tackles and back-and-forth play before junior hooker David Krivacka punched through after a long passage of play. The Raptors took the ensuing restart straight down the pitch and senior captain Max Orefice scored on a tap-and-go from five meters out. From tough angles, sophomore flyhalf Jake Orefice converted both early tries to make it 14-0 Raptors.
Max Orefice moved from flanker to No. 8 after an injury earlier in the week to sophomore starter Grant Webber.
As is true to their standard, 901 Rugby did not let down and put a try on the board through sophomore scrumhalf Parker Weatherly, cutting the lead to 14-5. The next ten minutes was back-and-forth before the Raptors took control of the match. Tries from sophomore flankers Jake Roberts and Andrew Ryan, with one Jake Orefice conversion, make it a commanding 26-5 lead at halftime.
The second half started like the first with plenty of action both ways and big kicks for territory from the Raptors' Max Orefice and 901's Colby Shelton. Raptors’ sophomore winger Barron Lankford, who has been a force all season, opened the second half with a powerful 50-meter run, touching down left of the posts. With Jake Orefice out on a blood-sub, older brother Max made it worth seven points with a dropkick.
