West Houston defeated Woodlands in a clash of two of the top clubs in Texas over the weekend.

The game was played in cold, wet weather that hit much of the Lone Sar State this weekend. West Houston seemed to revel in it, unleashing some ferocious tackling and intelligent ball control to defeat Woodlands 17-12. The Woodlands team, meanwhile, learned a little bit about how every game is key, and while they had seven starters out (injuries, rested, red card), and the players on the side that faced WH had a task ahead of them.

West Houston came out fired up, hitting hard and knocking back the Woodlands ballcarriers. Maybe a little too fired up as West Houston suffered a red card for a dump tackle on Woodlands prop Zach Raper. Raper was subbed off and West Houston was down a player.

Woodlands tackled aggressively also, but slowly West Houston started to make the gain line, scoring two first-half tries to lead 12-5. A powerful second half performance from West Houston's halfback combination of Joseph Curran and flyhalf Ben Saunders, continued to see the possession battle won. Eventually a breakaway try after a lineout from No. 8 Hunter Finlay put West Houston ahead to stay. Woodlands scored late, but West Houston, amazingly, managed to shore up their defense even after a second red card put them down to 13. 

The West Houston back row of Finlay, Seth Smith, and Chauncey Alo was outstanding and center Zane Smith was named player of the game for his powerful carries through traffic and his relentless defense.

This was a relatively young game in that Woodlands was forced to run out some younger players and West Houston has very few seniors on their squad. It will remain a strong rivalry going forward.