It will be the Charlotte Tigers vs Thunder Rugby in the final of the Boys HS Club National Championships after both teams won very hard-hitting, defensive semifinals Friday night in Kansas City, Mo.

We'll get to those semis, but first a look at the rest of the bracket.

We wrap up Day Two in Tier 2 Here>>

Playing for 5th

Some disappointed teams entered Friday evening in the 5th-place semifinals. All four teams there had harbored designs on the title, and those designs were legitimate. But each had encountered one or two crucial issues. For Royal Irish it was an inability to get points out of possession. For SOC Raptors, it was penalty trouble. For Genesis it was the fact that you can't always run out of trouble in your own 22. For Fort Hunt it was a maddening struggle to get points.

The Raptors produced a very good team performance centered on defense and augmented by a non-panic intensity that produced three tries in a 19-7 win over Fort Hunt. This game was not settled until late, but SOC was dynamic and made Fort Hunt fight for every inch.

In the other 5th-place semi, Genesis opened things up. They still ran out of their own end, but Royal Irish's offensive issues remained, and a brilliant team effort in open play and in a fractured field brought Genesis home 33-12.

Playing for 1st

In the opening minutes Thunder Rugby pressured down in the Aspetuck 22, pressed their advantage, and scored on a pick-and-go. That was all very normal. What wasn't normal was the fact that there was no more scoring. Thunder recycled ball nicely and that continuity denied Aspetuck attacking chances.

When on defense, they got right up in the face of Aspetuck's danger runners. Players who normally sliced and diced defenses found no room. Solomon Williams ran the Thunder motor well and there was just no room for Aspetuck.

Thunder's kicking game was also very effective, and Aspetuck, in the end, had only one really good scoring chance. They lost the ball forward in that chance but, as Aspetuck Head Coach Ray Weiner pointed out, had they scored, the kick would have been from the touchline, and quite possibly Aspetuck would still have been behind. It was a game on a knife edge all evening.

Meanwhile, Charlotte and Woodlands were in a war. Woodlands pinned Charlotte back and forced them to work for their points, and the teams traded scores to a 14-8 scoreline early in the second half. Both teams had good chances to score, but desperate cover tackling was there. Finally, Charlotte chased a kick, went wide and cut through, and finished it off with a pick-and-go. Woodlands scored at the end of the game to make it 19-15.

"You are by far the best team we've played in the last two years," Charlotte Head Coach Erik Saxon told the Woodlands players. Charlotte locks Bruton Peacock and AJ Piera were immense for the Tigers in a game where the tight five and the set pieces were of utmost importance.

Schedule Change

Thunder has a flight out Saturday night, and so the HS Club final has been moved to 4:30PM. See the schedule graphic above.