Top-Ranked HS Clubs Make Statements
Top-Ranked HS Clubs Make Statements
The top-ranked HS clubs in GRR's Top 50 were in important action over the weekend.
The #1-ranked Charlotte Cardinals defeated an injury-hit Richmond Strikers in emphatic fashion 58-7. This was the general MO of a pretty polished Cardinals side that has been winning games by wide margins since club action began.
With a cadre of players that have been playing well together for some time, the Cardinals will stay #1.
The Woodlands, ranked #2, played a Katy team that is much improved.
Woodlands took the game 26-5 in a windy, scrappy game that provided much-needed competition for both teams.
Katy had the wind at their backs and used it to pin Woodlands with deep kicks, exploiting penalties for territory. They dominated possession but failed to score, and that would hurt them later. Woodlands broke through at nine minutes—wing Anthony Ventura’s slick moves earned a try, converted by flyhalf Ilen Menon for a 7-0 lead.
In the 22nd minute a yellow card to Katy opened the door and Eli Caprio ran right through it. Try scored and a 12-0 lead. But Woodlands also had discipline issues, and the accumulation of penalties resulted in a yellow card of their own as halftime approached. Once again Katy failed to capitalize, knocking on near the Woodlands tryline to leave it 12-0 at halftime.
Woodlands now had the wind and they also smartly used their kicking game. However, two kicked were blown well into Katy's in-goal, resulting in a scrum back in Woodlands territory. Katy would then pressure and capitalize on Woodlands penalties. From a five-meter scrum, Katy ran a play with the No. 8 Maui Peters-Alo and scrumhalf Licas Martineli that put the latter through for a try.
Woodlands responded with a 50-22 from Menon that set up a try for Neel Menon that gave Woodlands a cushion. Neel Menon sealed it with a crafty last-play try from a ruck, finalizing the score at 26-5.
"Poor discipline put us in bad positions all day and we will address that next week in practice," said Woodlands Head Coach, Werner Marx. "It was an ugly win. I need to watch the video but I felt like we had maybe 30% possession for the game."
In Southern California, #5 San Diego Mustangs beat #3 Belmont Shore 29-5.
The Mustangs got first-half tries from Gunnar Paul in a short run off a maul and lock Matteo Bresenden powering over in front of the posts. Bresenden's effort was converted and with a penalty goal it was 17-0 at halftime.
San Diego hooker Carson Palmer chased an errant Belmont pass into in-goal to touch it down for a defensive-pressure try. Belmont Shore answered, but the Mustangs mauled it over to finish the result 29-5. That single result put the Mustangs somewhat in the driver's seat in the SoCal HS Club league.
"Our defense carried us against a talented Belmont team," said Mustangs Head Coach Matty Sandoval. "That said, we need to take much better care of the ball in attack, and our penalty count was atrocious. We have work to do in those areas."
