Xavier HS won the Rugby NY Boys HS championship with an impressive 40-0 defeat of The Harvey School Sunday in Utica, NY.

The perennial state champions had to battle for it a little bit, especially in the early part of the first half.

“The first 12 minutes or so they were running really hard at us,” said Xavier Head Coach Greg Norris. “Their centers are pretty formidable. But our centers tackled well, and if it weren’t for them, we would have given up a couple of tries I am sure.”

Harvey was camped out on the Xavier line about 12 minutes in when Xavier turned them over, kicked downfield, and started to pressure Harvey for the first time in the game. Eventually Xavier earned a penalty and from that prop Oliver Kucynski went over for the first try.

“That was a big momentum shift,” said Norris.

At 27 minutes Xavier added to their lead when captain Eamonn Matthews scored. Flyhalf James Tweedy’s conversion made it 12-0, which is how the half ended.

“We managed to hold them out, and our guys played good defense - our boys are small but they pack a punch,” enthused Norris.

In the second half, Xavier opened it up. Prop Clayton Kendrick-Holmes scored a try eight minutes in, which Tweedy converted, and then Matt LaSorsa added another seven minutes later to make it 26-0 with Tweedy’s third conversion. Matthews, the scrappy scrumhalf who led the team with energy all day, got his second, before Kyle Strehle added the final bow. Tweedy converted five of the six tries to make it 50-0.

“Harvey were very strong,” said Norris. “They came out a lot more physical and focused then we expected.”

But Xavier, having battled through some tough games outside of the region, notably with Penn, Greenwich, and Brownsburg, weathered the rough start and rebounded well.

Also Sunday, Pelham edged New Rochelle 22-21 to win the Plate. Fairport defeated Kenmore to take 3rd in DI, while Play Rugby defeated Saratoga 45-19 to take the DII title.