In one of the two games this weekend between very highly-ranked teams, Royal Irish defeated Penn HS in Indiana Super League conference play.

Photos by Tamara Tidey

This was a wild game played in horrible weather conditions. It rained and was cold (as Royal Irish Head Coach called it, “frigid”). The game was halted for a time because of lightning, but was eventually finished, and at the end the hosts from Indianapolis had won 12-3.

In sloppy, muddy, and, yes, frigid conditions, Royal Irish scored an early try to lead 7-0. Penn kicked a penalty to make it 7-3, and after the lightning break was ended, put a bunch of pressure on Royal Irish. But the Irish had their moments too, and scored a second try to lead 12-3.

Penn camped out in the Royal Irish 22 for the last 11 minutes, and were right on the line on several occasions. But the Royal Irish stuff Penn twice right on the line.

“Our forwards played really well today,” said Peterson. “We matched up well with them, but I think we had the better hand in the forwards. Penn has a formidable backline.”

Royal Irish had big games from flanker Noah Schrader and prop Jimmy McGuigan, who had not played for the team since their early game against Gonzaga. McGuigen and his fellow prop, Dave Schroeder, set the tone.

What this result means in the grand scheme of things is tough to say. The weather had an effect on the game to be sure. But it’s also relatively early in a season that is over all too soon.

“I am not really sure where we are,” said Peterson. “I do know we’ve got a very good team and we’ve got 70 kids out and we’ve got good depth in the forwards. But, we’ll see.”

Also in the Indiana Super League, Brownsburg fell behind 10-0 and stormed back to beat Notre Dame de La Salette 19-10. That was a big result for Brownsburg, and sets up some interesting final league games.