Rounding Up HS Rugby Statements
Rounding Up HS Rugby Statements
Who is leading their conferences or making statements in boys HS rugby this weekend? Let's take a look.
Northeast
Rye out of New York beat Staples out of Connecticut 51-7.
This was Rye's first home game of the season and they came out firing, getting over the line three times in the first 15 minutes.
Rye co-captains Archer Fenton and Owen Saya were outstanding leaders and Fenton earned player-of-the-game honors. Fenton had been out sick but returned to the field to score three tries in the first half alone. Wing Sam Surak scored two tries of his own while hooker Jack Anderson had another physical performance on both sides of the ball.
Offense was working for Rye but defense was probably what they were most pleased about.
Staples is powerful and physical and Rye held them out until late in the game.
Another Close One in NorCal While Jesuit, Lamo Win
BC High, Fairfield Prep Lead the Way Day One at Fairfield Tourney
Caveman Swing Their Clubs in Friendship Cup
Tournaments and HSNC Dress Rehearsals in Big Weekend
Arizona
Tempe beat Scottsdale 45-10 despite being without three starters. It was a smaller pack for Tempe but led by Lincoln Rynish and Masiu Ahlelei they played hard and were mobile and disciplines. Tempe's backs were speedy and their ballhandling was impressive. Davis Reid, Gavin Hunsaker, Austin Witcher, and Ike Crowell all played well as Tempe targets the top seed into the Arizona state playoffs.
Next up is the Arizona state semifinals on April 5.
Texas-Louisiana
The Texas-Louisiana cross-border league has three undefeated teams still in the competition. Dallas Jesuit pulled off a well-taken 38-13 win over a tough Celina HS team. Lake Travis remained unbeaten in Texas-La. with a comprehensive win over HCYA. Strake Jesuit battled a tough Jesuit New Orleans. The Blue Jays had beaten St. Thomas, a team that beat Dallas Jesuit in Texas league play, and had also lost by a point to Lake Travis.
The game was expected to be competitive, and it was, with Strake coming away 34-24 winners. Felipe Edbrooke scored two tries for Strake, while Thaddaeus Narvacan, Williams Grace, and Paolo Masso also scored tries.
Washington
Liberty Patriots and Eastside Lions are on top in Rugby Washington's D1 league and Liberty confirmed that with a 64-0 shutout of Chuckanut. Led by several USA age-grade and EIRA prospects, such as Marek Wright, Sefa Lepai, Rohan Twohey, Maxime Cauchi, and Seamus Twohey, the Patriots have talent and certainly seem to be putting it together.
Eastside had a bye weekend this week and won't face Liberty for three weeks yet. However, these two teams did meet in a shortened preseason friendly in February, which Liberty won. The Patriots also beat Rainier in a preseason friendly. But those are preseason games for a reason. The Patriots take on the Highlanders next week.
Virginia
The top division in Virginia is, unfortunately, just three teams. The good news is that all of these teams are very close. In fact, the score differential is close to perfect—meaning ... if Team A beats Team B by 11, and then loses to Team C by 6, you'd expect Team C to beat Team B by 17. In the real world, Richmond beat Vienna 19-14 two weeks ago, and Fort Hunt beat Vienna 40-31. So you'd expect Fort Hunt to beat Richmond by four points. They won by six, 26-20. Siosala Tuivailala scored two tries for the Warriors with Jason Osorto and Jack Tanner adding tries. Willilam Bellas converted three.
So that's pretty much it for the Virginia regular season. Fort Hunt is 2-0, Richmond 1-1, and Vienna 0-2. There will be a playoff in May.
Meanwhile, Vienna logged an impressive showing against Aspetuck, beating the Connecticut club 40-5. Vienna outside center Matthew Vojta was strong with ball-in-hand all day and scored three tries. James Thorley was 5-for-6 for kicks at goal, while inside center David Ropper, Jr. cut through the Aspetuck defense and was lights-out as a tackler.
Colorado
Regis Jesuit and Valor met in a clash of the top two teams in Colorado. Most expected it to be a close, and it was, with Regis winning 17-14.
"This was a really good high school game," said Regis Head Coach Ben Pinkelman. "Minimal errors, lots of edge-to-edge attacking play, high line speed pressure defenses."
Both teams were good in set piece, and while the kicking game for both needs work, overall it was a game that lived up to what it should be.
No. 8 Kai Shelton was a powerful presence for Regis, while Valor was led by captain and lock Elliot Smyth, who has been outstanding all season for them. The teams were tied 14-14 until the late moments when Regis slotted a penalty to win it.
"Very impressed with the level of rugby played by both teams and should end up a exciting end to our season in the finals whoever makes it," said Valor Coach Guy Mumford.
