Around the Nation in HS Rugby
Around the Nation in HS Rugby
Here's a quick look at what's happened around the country this week.
Belmont Shore and the San Diego Mustangs won their SoCal semifinals and will advance to the final next week. Meanwhile, further North, De La Salle won Northern California in dramatic fashion.
De La Salle Wins Northern California in a Classic
Danville Wins NorCal Bowl Over Heart-Heavy Jesuit
In Oregon, Eastside Tsunamis won the clash of two undefeated teams, beating Camas in impressive fashion 42-7 to drop Camas to 6-1 and improve Eastside to 7-0. The Tsunamis were led by senior center Harry Moore, who scored three tries and converted all six conversions for 27 points all by himself. In Washington, Eastside Lions beat Chuckanut 29-14 in torrential rain to remain unbeaten in the Evergreen State.
Eastside flanker Orion De Smet was explosive with ball in hand and on defense. With De Smet and prop Reuben Mereke leading the way the Lions have continued to improve and will look ahead to the Florida Invitational later this month.
In Idaho we're set up for a meeting of the top two teams in the league after Rigby moved to 5-0 with a win over Rocky Mountain and Owyhee defeated Eagle. This will be the state final and would be the first state title for either team. Owyhee's other two Rugby Idaho boys teams are in the final too.
Herriman will play Highland and United will play Layton Christian in the school-team and the HS club finals in Utah after they won semifinals this week.
St. Louis University beat Liberty and KC Jr. Blues this weekend to win the Missouri state championship.
It has been an up-and-down year for SLUH but they've been improving. Head Coach Brian Corrigan pointed to his side's 26-24 defeat of Chaminade earlier last week. It was a game Corrigan felt his side could have won by more, but they did pull it out.
"These young'ns finally learned how to win a gritty game," said Corrigan. And it translated nicely to the weekend. They defeated Liberty Saturday and edged Kansas City on Sunday 16-12.
"The guys figured it out in the end," said Corrigan. "As always, it was a tough, physical, even matchup. They had some strong players who challenged our guys all day. We are going to continue to get better and have a lot to be excited about."
Corrigan will be stepping down as Head Coach and while he will continue to help the team, Joe Husgen will step in at SLUH after coaching the SLUH JVs and working as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Bombers men's club. "Our team," added Corrigan, "is in great hands."
St. Thomas Aquinas defeated Minnesota side Eagan 48-7.
"Our boys played well," said Head Coach Tim Kluempers. "They really controlled the ball, controlled the game. We've got to tidy up the execution of our kicks and we've got State next week and we looked forward to a big weekend."
Aaron Goodwin and Brock Kluempers once again were strong for STA while tighthead prop Sean Brough was named player of the game.
Penn HS won the Midwest Championships, defeating St. Edward 20-8 and really being the only team to even come close to solving the St. Ed's defense. After Saturday's semifinal win Penn Head Coach Bart Bottorff reiterated to his players that after 28 years of coaching this is his last season.
"Win one more for me," he said, "and if you can't do that, just give me everything you've got."
They did that, presenting Bottorff with a state title in 7s this past fall and a Midwest championship as his steps away from running the program he nurtured for so long.
Avon took 3rd while in the JV bracket St. Ignatius was nothing short of dominant, winning games 38-5 and 47-7 before shutting out Penn's JVs in Sunday's final 55-0.
Also this week in the Midwest, but not in the tournament, Royal Irish beat upstarts Westfield 53-10 behind five tries from Noah Kaplan. St. Ignatius won comfortably over Medina 73-3 on a very cold and wet Senior Night with Nathan DesRosiers getting player of the game. DesRosiers said adjusting to the weather was key.
"Just switching our mentality—we realized we're not going to be able to pass and catch as well, so just catch with our bellies and really run hard lines."
Cape Fear won a close one and the Charlotte Cardinals won a big one in the North Carolina playoffs. More here>>
Raptors and Germantown both won semifinals in Tennessee to move on to the final. In Pennsylvania four teams remains in D1 with Berks, Gregory the Great, LaSalle, and St. Joe's Prep all winning quarterfinal matchups. Berks ran out to a big lead over Doylestown and held on from there. Diohnny Ruiz scored two tries and seven others touched down. Cole Patterson converted seven.
In Connecticut Staples traveled north to play division rival Simsbury. Due to some nagging bumps and bruises Staples sat seven starters, providing a great opportunity for some of the younger players to step in. And they did, as Staples controlled the tempo, maintained possession, and played disciplined and team-oriented rugby to win 47-15.
Captain and No. 8 Brandon Saunders as well as hooker John Tyson, flanker Andrew Rossman, outside center Benji Titlebaum, and loosehead prop Eddie Van Der Merwe led the way. Next up for Staples is a tough Fairfield Prep side.
BC High beat Algonquin Friday night 41-12. Captain Sean Murphy continued his scoring streak while scrumhalf Eamon Delaney and wing Trevor McCormack both had excellent games.
The Hermits of St. Augustine Prep in New Jersey defeated the Colts of Christian Brother's Academy 26-14. Center Jake Slonick scored two tries while flanker Jake Andre and No. 8 Gavin Curran also touched down.
