California’s single-school competition enters its final phase, and some key cross-border games highlight the weekend; here’s what’s been going on.

Trips Tours and Cross-Border Games

Defending national single-school champs St. Ignatius ran out to a commanding 43-0 lead over LaSalle College High of Pennsylvania and held on to win 57-0.

The Ignatius defense, coupled with their ability to hold onto possession for long periods, helped produce the shutout. Sophomores Jake Papesh and Conor Bender, along with senior Cole Sutkus, led a strong forward effort and were imposing in contact. Ryan Putka continues to be the pendulum that keeps the backs in rhythm, but the second half slowed down some as Ignatius was hit hard with penalties and cards.

Head Coach Dan Arbeznik said his team just needs to be more disciplined and smarter about poaching ball.

Strake Jesuit and Dallas Jesuit went to Louisiana. Strake handed Brother Martin a 54-12 defeat on Friday. Meanwhile Dallas Jesuit and New Orleans Jesuit played a back-and-forth barnburner. The Dallas Jesuit Rangers emerged 26-20 winners thanks to a late try.

On Saturday, Strake defeated Jesuit NOLA 35-21. It was a very tight and back-and-forth game until three late tries from Strake sealed the deal.

Gonzaga and Granite Bay played starters vs starters for 50 minutes, and in that period played to a 21-21 standstill. After that, the subs were rolled in. Gonzaga, which traveled with just 26, had fewer to roll in, especially after picking up a couple of injuries in Thursday’s game with Sacramento Jesuit. 

The result, then, was four converted tries by Granite Bay in the final 20 minutes.

“They’re a really good team,” said Gonzaga Head Coach Peter Baggetta. “We got so much out of it. Granite Bay are such great hosts and they taught us a lot and they told us we taught them a lot of things. We got everything we wanted to get out of the trip. We got some inexperienced guys some time playing in a big game, and we learned some lessons, like making sure less experienced guys get more reps at practice, and making sure guys can play multiple positions. When you bring 26 guys on a trip like this you need to have guys who play multiple positions.”

It was a chance for the Gonzaga players to handle some adversity. The weather was rough and they flew in Wednesday, played Thursday, recovered Friday, and played again Saturday. It was challenging.

For Granite Bay, this was a very good performance against a formidable opponent.

“My boys played well today,” said Head Coach Chris Miller. “It was probably our best performance so far.”

While a couple of players had to be rested, Jared Quenga and Masi Koi played very well and “Will Walker played and led like a man today,” added Miller. “We will keep this ins perspective. We know they played two days before, plus the travel. The bottom line was it was a great match.”