State Championships Just Won and On the Horizon

05.15.2026HS Boys

Key Biscayne celebrates.

Author: Alex Goff

We are getting heavily into state championship time just as the Boys HS National Championships loom for next week.

Florida

Okapi was upset by Key Biscayne in the state final, with the Rats winning 25-12.

These two teams faced off March 7 and Okapi won 33-22. But the Rats players were fairly certain they could reverse that.

Manuel Santos led the way and his job was to execute the game plan, which he did superbly. With the forwards putting in a ton of work, led by back-rower Mateo Méndez and front-rower Bosco Marin, the Rats took the state title.

North Carolina

With the Charlotte Cardinals running their first team (their Red team) out-of-state in an independent schedule, the final came down to Raleigh and the Charlotte Tigers.

The Tigers won>>

Virginia

Fort Hunt won the U19 and U16 titles, beating Richmond in the U19 final. Details here>>

We also have reports on state finals in (hit the link for details):

Louisiana

Jesuit New Orleans garnered revenge for an earlier loss to Brother Martin to win the Louisiana final.

Brother Martin punished a handling error on the opening kickoff to score, but the Blue Jays responded. Flanker Sam Oertling intercepted a Brother Martin pass and raced 60 meters to score.

The next 20 minutes was a pitched battle with neither team yielding. Brother Martin continually threw all its defenders in the line to stop the Blue Jay advance. This left space deep, which senior flyhalf Putty Peterman exploited with a perfectly weighted crossfield kick that put the Crusaders under pressure.

The Jays quickly formed up a powerful phalanx of forwards, who hammered the Crusaders goalline defense. Eventually No. 8 Oliver Burgau found a seam and crashed through.

4 tries from Jesuit NOLA No. 8 Oliver Burgau in the 2026 Louisiana final. — Four tries from Jesuit NOLA No. 8 Oliver Burgau in the 2026 Louisiana final.

Putter Peterman converted and it was 12-10. Brother Martin regroups and worked their way over for a try to make it 12-10 at halftime.

In the second half, Jesuit was awarded a scrum just inside the Brother Martin half. Burgau picked up and broke through four tacklers to gallop 40 meters for a brilliant try.

Burgau would thunder through for two more tries, making it four for the game.

With eight minutes left, the Jays were up 33-22. A succession of penalties against Jesuit, however, saw Brother Martin march deep into Jesuit’s redzone. A quick Crusader attack caught the Jays flat and earned the Crusaders a try in the corner. The gap closed to 33-29. With minutes left on the clock, the Crusaders mounted their most furious assault of the match. Brother Martin quick-tapped and sprinted toward the corner. With mere inches to spare, Jesuit fullback Ford Frischertz and wing Sal Le combined for a championship-saving tackle, driving the Brother Martin attacker into touch. Jesuit exited off the ensuing lineout, but Brother Martin had one more chance. They ran the forwards on a pick-and-go sequence even as time expired. With the game on the line a massive tackle from Jesuit hooker Matt Scalise knocked the ball free. Jesuit halfback Code Brown recovered the ball and quickly kicked it to touch, sealing a 33–29 victory for Jesuit.

It was a very tough loss for Brother Martin, and a huge win for Jesuit.

Idaho

Rocky Mountain edged Owyhee 29-26. Owyhee was hurt by a red card with 30 minutes left. Rocky Mountain won by a penalty goal.

Northern California

We have some reports on the NorCal championships. SFGG beat Lamorinda in the Premier Final. Carmichael won the Gold Final over EPA. Chico edged Monterrey/Santa Cruz 34-33 in a really well-played Silver Final.

SoCal

The San Diego Mustangs were excellent in their win for the U19 club final, but we also talk about how the SOC Raptors won almost every other age level.

In SoCal, Mustangs Roll, Thunder Battles, Raptors Cover the Bases

Next Up

Eastside and Liberty will face off for the Washington final this weekend. Liberty beat Eastside earlier in the season, but, as we've seen, that isn't always a guarantee to repeat.

In Oregon, we're down to the final with the two teams that have been well above the rest back at it. Camas takes the Bend Blues on the campus of Western Oregon University.

These two teams opened up the season against each other and tied 20-20. This will be a massive game.

Bend Head Coach Jason Gillam, who played for the Bend men's club before moving to Aspen and getting capped by the USA, has his players hungry. Several of the Bend players have been with the Mountain View HS football team that made three straight state finals and lost each time.

"This is a very big day for those kids," said Gillam. Nichols College commits Braven Peiler and Cody Cavert, scrumhalf and prop, respectively, have been outstanding. Jettson Gillam, who is a 6-4 forward who is very quick over the ball, and Miles Schuller, who is taller and bigger and quite imposing, are part of a team that defends until the end and never gives up on a play.

"Last year lost by two points and we learned a tremendous amount about competing for the entire match," said Gillam. "We know we’ve got to play for 70 minutes, and maybe 90 minutes, and we’re ready to do that."

The two strongest teams in Wisconsin, Pulaski and Green Bay, face off this weekend with the winner taking the NEW Conference #1 seed and a home semifinal. Led by co-captain Josh Berzowski and Tyler Nowak, Coach Cole Coopman's Pulaski Roos are unbeaten. Their attack owed much to Ian McDougal, Mason Taylor, and young Jackson Raymakers.

Also unbeaten are the Green Bay Leprechauns. They are physical and hard-working, and can play a smashmouth game. But they can also play wide and open it up. This combination of work rate and versatility is what can cause the Roos problem.

In Minnesota the chase is on to catch Hopkins. Right now, Edina is best situated to do that. In Indiana Bishop Dwenger takes on Mudsock in a top-of-the-table clash.

Pennsylvania has come down to, as expected, Doylestown and Gregory the Great. It's power vs agility and fitness. That's a simplification, but it holds. Doylestown will win if they control the point of contact. GGA wins when they play quick and stay out of a arm-wrestle.

Illinois

In Illinois, the school playoffs are underway, with La Salette and Marist taking byes. Thursday night (May 14) the first match of the playoffs saw Neuqua hold off St. Rita 26-17, and that put Neuqua into the semis against the vaunted La Salette side.

Neuqua were paced by game MVPs Ameer Begg, the No. 8 being picked by the St. Rita players, and center Pierce Nugent, who was a constant attacking threat.

That game is scheduled for May 23, which conflicts with La Salette's presence at the national tournament.

In the club league, West Suburban beat Lincoln Way 31-26 thanks in large part to a second-half surge that saw Logan Gathman, Donovan Lee, and Darran Dhillon scored tries in the space of about seven minutes. That put the Bulls at 6-0.

However, they are chasing a 7-0 New Trier team that has often won using players who aren't their regular starters.

New Trier got a lot out of their tour to Ireland.

Overall, then, this is how it looks in Illinois. La Salette will have to find a way to get by Neuqua while also at the National Championships. As far as we know, they won't be rescheduling that game. If they do win that semi, they are favored to take the Illinois school title.

In the club championship, New Trier, bolstered by a very successful tour to Ireland and paced by all-positional back Gavin Dixon, No. 8 Erich Waldorf, and powerful lock Winston Maylater, look to be the favorites.

Unofficially, four teams within Illinois with Naperville, Neuqua, La Salette, and New Trier playing each other. There's a solid possibility that the last of these games, New Trier vs La Salette, will be between the school and club champ.

But it's not set in stone.