Tempe will play the San Diego Mustangs in the final of the Tier 2 Boys HS National Championships after both won their semifinals Friday morning in Kansas City.

Tempe and SFGG played a thrilling, back-and-forth contest in which both teams showcased the ability to score from anywhere. Tempe's explosive attack saw them through, helped along the way by a yellow card against SFGG.

Tempe's Aki Pulu and Alani Maafu produced some impressive plays, carrying tacklers over the line on multiple occasions. They ran out to a big lead in the second half only to see SFGG strike back with flyhalf Kealan O'Connell going over late. But Tempe held on 39-30.

The Mustangs and the Raleigh Redhawks played a back-and-forth clash, but the overall size of San Diego, especially in the backs, saw them through. As the game wore on, San Diego started to play more of the game in the Raleigh 22. The Redhawks played very hard, and had proved the day before that they can play really good rugby, but the Mustangs kicking game ensured Raleigh had a long way to go.

San Diego 26 Raleigh 12.

There was some excitement in the 5th-place bracket. Vienna played a superb team game and emerged 31-7 winners over Eastside. That was a nice game, but the real thriller was Phoenix Alpharetta vs KC Jr. Blues. The game was on a knife edge throughout. With time up Kansas City led 20-14 and looked to kick the ball out and end the game. Perhaps unsure of whether time really was finished, the Blues opted to kick to touch like normal (as opposed to kicking past the dead ball line).

The kick was held up in the stiff Kansas City breeze, and Phoenix gathered it, and launched one more attack. Oh yes, they scored, and converted, and won, 21-20.