St. Ignatius won the Midwest Boys HS Championship, defeating crosstown rivals St. Edward 17-15 in Sunday's final at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind.
This was not expected to be a tournament on the Ignatius radar as it is Prom weekend and so seniors would not be available. However, when there was a late pullout, the coaching staff decided to test out a lineup of only juniors and sophomores (and one freshman) ... and it paid off.
Ignatius defeated a very strong Westside Black Swarm team 24-12 in the opening round, while St. Ed's took care of HSE Mudsock. Also winners in the quarterfinals were a hard-nosed Penn over Indiana rivals Royal Irish, with two tries from wing Maddex Reynolds and tries also fromSam Sullivan, Wally Kenach, and Vince Horner.
St. Xavier edged Bishop Dwenger 17-15.
So that set up Saturday's semis (Saturday games were 45 minutes, Sunday's were 60 minutes). St. Edward defeated St. Xavier while Ignatius had to battle to hold off Penn 17-10.
In the final, freshman Hank McGowan got the start at flyhalf and performed admirably. Sophomores Adam Bornhorst and Connor Bender brought power in contact and were effective making ground. Juniors Christian Balassy and Leo Ference also helped control the gain line while Thomas Kilbane and Michael Krebs scored tries.
But those tries weren't enough, as St. Edward scored three tries. The poise and accuracy of gameday captain Jimmy Collins got Ignatius through as he converted both tries and added a penalty goal for the 17-15 win. Ignatius had some breaks and try-scoring chances, but St. Edward's deep three made several excellent cover tackles to keep the score close and give the Eagles a chance.
Westside beat Bishop Dwenger for 5th, Mudsock shut out Royal Irish to take 7th, and Penn beat St. Xavier to take 3rd. So the only losses incurred by Penn or Westside were by eventual champions St. Ignatius, and those three teams from that side of the bracket went 7-2 while the rest of the teams went 5-10.
