In a stormer of a game that certainly lived up to its billing, St. Ignatius of Cleveland defeated Gonzaga of Washington DC 38-26 in a crossover match in Morgantown, WV.

The game was played in hot, humid conditions on an artificial surface, and it was certainly challenging for both outfits. In the end, while both sides left shaking their heads at some of their mistakes, this was a well-played game between two very talented and well-coached teams.

St. Ignatius opened the scoring after punishing a series of Gonzaga penalties. That put Gonzaga on their back foot and the Wildcats ended up running a maul. The forwards continued to dive in Ignatius then shipped it wide to score on the outside and it was 5-0.

Gonzaga game back and this time it was Ignatius committing the penalties. The Eagles took two lineouts, mauled it, and the forwards finished it off. Scrumhalf Jack Reis kicked the conversion and Gonzaga led 7-5.

One of those mistakes then reared its head. Gonzaga was defending, and was able to kick clear. But they had players offside on the kid, and Ignatius took a scrum in the middle of the field. They continued to pressure from there, and while Gonzaga defended well, it was only a matter of time. Ignatius stole the put-in from another scrum, sent it wide, and Ryan Putka twisted his way over. The ball was a little loose when Putka touched down, but it was ruled to be dropped down, not forward. Bobby Voth kicked the conversion and Ignatius led 12-7.

Despite the game being close throughout, Ignatius would not relinquish the lead. Not that they were perfect. Ignatius had an excellent scoring change with a 4-on-2 , but they didn’t move the ball well enough to get through.

In the second half, Gonzaga came out with a game plan and saw it get undercut within seconds. The kickoff was knocked on, Ignatius gathered it, and Voth then fended off three tacklers while stepping repeatedly to the outside. The flyhalf was in and suddenly it was 17-7.

Unfazed, Gonzaga burst up the middle, were caught, but had a massive overlap on the right side. The Ignatius cover defense almost stopped that advance anyway, but finally prop JP Vinter crashed over, despite the attention of three tacklers. Reis converted and it was 17-14.

Gonzaga almost then retook the lead. A brilliant chip and chase from Reis was followed by a brilliant backhanded pass to his support. The pass, though, was a bit of a surprise, got dropped, and Ignatius breathed again.

In fact, from that scrum the Wildcats ran an 8-9 move, and then a switch move between Voth and inside center Marty Lenehan. The center, who had been moved from loose forward a couple of weeks ago, was taken down but not held, got up, and charged on. Ed Soeder and John Reddy followed that up, and then the ball was spun wide for a try in the corner that started in the opposite corner 100 meters away. Voth kicked the conversion and it was 24-14 for Ignatius.

Both teams had chanced to score, but penalties from Ignatius and turnovers in the ruck from Gonzaga caused them problems. Finally off a scrum Gonzaga’s sophomore flyhalf Emmett Cook popped a little kick over the Ignatius defense, gathered it up, and was in under the posts. Conversion good and it was a three-point game once again, 24-21.

This is where Ignatius put the game away. They pressured right off the restart, defended superbly, and forced a turnover the led to Lenehan going over. Voth kicked the kick and it was 31-21. Moments later, a kick to space from Voth and an excellent tackle from Jack Howarth and Joe Georges turned the ball over and led to one more try for the Wildcats.

With Voth converting, that made it 38-21, and there just wasn’t enough time for Gonzaga. The Eagles scored a try with fullback Michael Roginski going in at the corner. But Ignatius had tackled doggedly enough to ensure there was very little time left, and Ignatius held on 38-26.

Gonzaga Head Coach Peter Baggetta said he was very pleased with the effort level and the quality of the performance. There were things to fix, for sure, but Gonzaga, battled, and was in it throughout.

St. Ignatius Head Coach Dan Arbeznik praised his team’s ability to answer Gonzaga whenever Gonzaga scored. Ignatius was physical, smart, and patient.

For Gonzaga, Reis at scrumhalf and Cook at flyhalf were very skilled, and Roginski at fullback was effective. No. 8 Burke Carroll along with captain and flanker Miles Gilroy put in a full day’s work.

For St. Ignatius, Georges was superb in the breakdown and on defense, while hooker Nathan Polinko and No. 8 Soeder put in big performances.