Westside Boys Continue Indiana Sevens Dominance
Westside Boys Continue Indiana Sevens Dominance
"Hutton had huge shoes to fill in his first ever 7s season," said Nicholson. "He is a student of the game and he showed excellent decision-making and ball-handling skills throughout the tournament. With a great boot and blazing pace, he was one of the top scorers in the tournament."
Another heavily-recruited senior is Asher Harrison, who also is playing in his first 7s season. He's a powerful defender and the same with ball in hand and his aggressive style was a bit of a crowd-pleased. Ryan Polgar was the top scorer for Westside and used his speed and strength (despite not being big) to break tackles. Once he was clear there were few who could chase him down.
Westside Sweeps Rugby Indiana 7s
Westside Black Swarm is still basking in the blow of winning the Rugby Indiana Boys HS 7s this past weekend.
This is the second straight Rugby Indiana 7s win for the Westside boys and they haven't lost a 7s game in over two years.
Senior captain Jack Long was the MVP. A ferocious player around the ruck, Long continuously came up with turnovers to launch attacks for his team. He can score himself, too, and scored three tries in the final, a 24-7 win over Zionsville.
Backing up Long was Easton Fincher. Highly sought after among colleges, Fincher works very hard and makes plays all over the field, chasing down breakaways and running good support lines.
"Easton inspires his teammates to keep pushing even when games are going against us," said Head Coach Steve Nicholson.
Hutton Simmons took over the flyhalf position from graduated Gage Poland. Poland was a big part of last year's team, but, added Nicholson, Simmons has done well.
"I could go on all day about the entire squad," said Nicholson, who coaches the team along with Aaron Poland. "We have worked to build a great culture here that is not often seen in US high school sports. We are seeing the fruits of our labor with success at both 7s and 15s, and are now actively working to flesh out our youth pyramid."
They have even started a men's club for the high school graduates and are working on founding a women's team (the Westside Girls also won the Rugby Indiana 7s.) Add to that a plan for a rugby program for people with learning disabilities, and the Avon, Ind. program is using their success to build growth.