St.Ignatius (ranked #3 by GRR among school teams_ dealt a pretty emphatic 34-5 defeat to #2 Gonzaga Saturday in West Virginia.

St. Ignatius dominated possession, especially in the second half against the wind, with the forwards, including Pat Lavella, Sean Ward, John Reddy, Emund Soeder, Jack Howart, Pat Clink, and Noah Norris doing yeoman work to win rucks, secure ball, and not let Gonzaga get solid possession to form a counter-attack,

On a windy day, St. Ignatius led only 13-0 at the break with the wind. But they controlled the ball against the wind, scored two more tries, and were just enormously smart with the ball. Ryan Putka laid in a couple of massive hits to set the tone, and Nate Polinko was given player of the game for the Wildcats.

But overall it was an impressive team showing, one Head Coach Dan Arbeznik said he didn't want going to the team's heads.

"It's good to get a benchmark and then ain at that standard," said Arbeznik. "We ended our post-match awards on the bus with that message."

Gonzaga, warned Arbeznik, will be tougher later in the year. In this game their desire to produce line speed resulted in a lot of offside penalties, and two yellow cards. As a result Gonzaga was forced to play defense most of the game. Their one try was from an interception.

"We realize that we have to improve every day between now and May," added Arbeznik.

SIHS flyhalf Bobby Voth blocked a kick for a try, helped control the field with his boot, and was metronimic on his kicks at goal.