Herriman and East HS will meet in the Utah Youth Rugby school final next week after both won semifinals over the weekend.

These two teams met in the regular season on April 8 with East pulling out a 29-27 victory, so the final promises to be hotly contested.

Herriman 17 Olympus 14

In a game that was closer than many expected, Herriman got a late try from Josiah Dunn to avoid the upset.

 The teams had met earlier this season in a game where Olympus led at halftime and Herriman stormed back to win it late. Both teams came in with different styles and trajectories. Olympus is a senior-laden team with experience and some quality leaders that plays sound, mistake-free rugby and forces opponents to do the same.  Herriman is a young team, starting one freshman (more on him in a minute) and two sophomores to balance their four seniors. They have been a bit up-and-down this season, making uncharacteristic mental errors.

As Director Jeff Wilson put it, "this team is really good at rising to challenges that we create for ourselves, but we'd like them to learn that it's a lot easier to play the game without getting in our own way."

This game could best be split in to thirds, with Herriman starting strong and controlling the first third, Olympus the better squad through the middle third, and Herriman finally putting unforced errors to rest in the final section.

Herriman did start well and had the balance of possession and territory and nearly scored in the first minute before being turned over near the tryline. That was a bit of a harbinger of how the game would go for the Mustangs. Still they kept the pressure on, countered off a kick, got a penalty, and got their maul going. Olympus attempted to stop the drive by backing off and not contesting, but two forwards remained engaged, allowing the maul to continue, and that freshman we mentioned, No. 8 MacRae Parker, was over for the try.

Olympus got a chance off of the restart with a Herriman obstruction penalty, but Grundy got the ball back with a big tackle. Herriman worked the ball back to midfield, but Olympus forced the ball carrier out of bounds, and Dison Brown had his first of many successful lineout takes—he was a difference-maker in the lineout all day for the Titans. 

With Olympus on the attack at midfield, Herriman's captain and tighthead prop Malosi Brown raced in to intercept a pass in the centers and was away. He was caught, of course, but the support was there and Parker recognized a gap out wide when Olympus were expecting a pick-and-go. The youngster called for the ball, got it, and was over in an outside channel to make it 10-0.

Heriman seemed to be caught repeatedly in the situation of facing a stiff breeze while inside their own half, but outside the 22. Kicking wasn't going to do too much, so they ran it, and then lost possession.

When they did kick, Cole Nugent returned it with interest and that run set up a try for Olympus, making it 10-7.

Herriman had some chances after that, and so did Olympucs. But mistakes, penalties, and getting tackled into touch made it tough to string sequences together. Herriman ended up on defense a lot, but their D held.

At the beginning of the second half Olympus ran a weakside move and kept going through a missed tackle. Dunn finally raced in to make the tackle, and now it was Olympus's turn to lose the ball in scoring position. Finally, though, a muffed Herriman lineout led to Olympus cutting through the middle to score under the posts. Olympus 14 Herriman 10.

Chances came and went. Herriman started to get the run of play a bit more, but they were too frantic. A prime chance to get ahead after a big run from lock Jaron Watson was symied by a knock-on after a quick tap. Another quick tap came to nothing because of a bad pass. The Mustangs didn't like playing from behind and were showing it.

With seven minutes to go and time getting short on Herriman's comeback attempt, they finally did what they had failed to do for most of the game—be patient and work the ball through phases.  The series began with a timely turnover forced by reserve prop Bryce Baddell; Herriman kept the ball and got some good go-forward from Heston Egelund. The ball was spun out to the backline and Olympus was penalized for an intentional knock-on. Dunn showed some cheek on the tap, feigning setting up a forward pod before suddenly turning and tapping to catch the defense off guard. Dunn was through for the try and his conversion was good too.

Olympus looked to reply. They ran through 21 phases well past the hooter, but Herriman made 21 tackles and Olympus had made almost no ground. Finally the ball was lost forward and Herriman had held on against a very good Olympus team.

It wasn't beautiful, but it was gritty, and Herriman is in the final.