St Edward followed up their Midwest single-school championship with a 31-17 defeat of St. Ignatius in a key Rugby Ohio league game.

Photos by Allison Bradfield. St. Edward in green.

The two teams came into Wednesday’s game undefeated in league play, with the main indicator of how things would go being St. Ed’s 15-10 defeat of St. Ignatius in the Midwest final on Sunday.

“Ignatius seemed to be more polished and played harder,” said St. Edward Head Coach Tom Cleary of the rematch. “Their rucking was very impressive and their kicking from their fullback, Andrew Baldado, was very precise. They kept us on our heels and working hard the entire game.”

But St. Ed’s did well enough, especially with their driving maul, and they controlled possession, patiently waiting for a gap in the defenses to show up.

In a game of tactics, where kicking for territory was a big part of the contest, patience, and fitness, was key.

“I believe our conditioning was a big factor in the end,” said Cleary. "Overall it game down to playing some good hard physical rugby and being able to capitalize on the opportunities that came up." 

With the victory, St. Edward moved to 4-0 in the Rugby Ohio DI North, while St. Ignatius dropped to 3-1. Moeller leads the South with a 4-0 record, but has lost to both of the top North teams. 

Zach Heisterkamp, Mike Walsh, Ryan Bradfield, Porter Ramsey, and Will Armbruster all scored tries for St. Edward, while Patrick Berry and Geoff DiMassa touched down for Ignatius. Andrew Bladado added two conversions and a drop goal.

Bradfield, who added three conversions to his one try, leads the Rugby Ohio DI with 121 points and is tied for the league lead in tries with 13 - same as Pickerington’s Stephvan Tanner.