University City improved to 3-0 in the Southern California Varsity White San Diego South Division with a comeback win over High Tech High Saturday.
This game, played annually for the Mettle Cup, was something of a tale of two halves, as HTH started strong and led 20-18. But some substitutions for University City for the second half bolstered their comeback effort, and center Ryan Shogan showing some good work in the backs and prop Juan Pablo Cabrera leading the forwards, they scored three tries in the second half to win 39-25.
Some regular starters missed the first half for University City because they are also on the surfing team and had a meet on the same day. That meant No. 8 Zach Brody had to move to center. But when those surfers got back in the lineup - especially wing Alex Volk and fullback Ben Lolly-Wilson - the UC attack stared to click.
"They had a big impact - bigger than I expected," said UC Coach Jason Lee. "At our best we can be pretty good. This was definitely our first test of the year, and we were just proud of how they bucked up and came back to win it."
At 3-0, University City is tied with Mira Mesa at 3-0 in the SD South Division. Mira Mesa played aagainst the Norsemen this weekend, and won 45-27. High Tech High drops to 1-2, but those losses have been to the top two teams in the division, and they could still be well-placed to finish high up. Also this week, new program Saint Anthony logged a midweek win over Artesia 26-22 to open their account. And, as reported already, Carlsbad won a big one over San Pasqual. Carlsbad to 3-0 With Win over SP.
| SoCal Varsity White Standings | ||||||||
| Los Angeles | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | BT | BL | Pts |
| Artesia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Saint Anthony | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Crespi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Santiago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Granite Hills Dead Rabbits | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Orange County | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | BT | BL | Pts |
| Dana Hills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Los Alamitos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Juan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Servite HS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tritons Rugby | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Diego North | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | BT | BL | Pts |
| Carlsbad HS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 63 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| San Pasqual | 2 | 1 | 0 | 83 | 51 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Fallbrook | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 58 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Alta Vista | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Mission Vista | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| San Marcos | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rancho Bernardo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Diego South | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | BT | BL | Pts |
| University City | 3 | 0 | 0 | 164 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Mira Mesa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 70 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| High Tech High | 1 | 2 | 0 | 93 | 93 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Coronado | 1 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Westview | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Patrick Henry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 100 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Norsemen | 0 | 3 | 0 | 61 | 105 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| La Jolla | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 79 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
