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HS Boys Developments Around the USA

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HS Boys Developments Around the USA

Pelham vs Fairfield Prep. Photo @CoolRugbyPhotos.
03.20.2024 - Alex Goff

Here's a quick look at some of the HS games and leagues from around the nation.

Boys HS Scores from this past weekend>>

Utah

Already we're seeing who are the top dogs in Utah, and we got a sense of that at the Puriri Memorial Tournament a few weeks ago.

Herriman and East are 2-0 while Layton Christian looked very impressive in defeating Highland 50-5 in their league opener. Those are the top three teams right now. East did the job this past weekend with No. 8 Papa Matelau scoring an early try and a strong second half turning a 12-5 nailbiter into a 36-5 win for East. Prop Ben Blake, scrumhalf Andy Flandro twice, and fullback Rex Bateman did the job in the second half for East.

East and LCA play this coming weekend.

Cross-Border Games

Kingfishers rebounded from their loss to St. Thomas Aquinas with a very impressive 67-14 victory over Bixby. 

Scrumhalf Daniel Ellis made his varsity debut and helped set up the first try, which saw Patrick Mulholland draw the defense and put Sam Egger through a game. The forwards get it started to lead to Colin Egger's try, and the pack did very well in stealing ball in the ruck—Prosper Owen was a huge pest in that regard, forcing five turnovers. Will Van De Ryt was good with the goalkicking and kicking from the hand, getting a 50-22 during the game.

JP Van De Ryt scored late in the first half to turn a tight 15-14 scoreline into a 22-14 lead at the break.

Flyhalf Mulholland set up Sam Egger again to start the second half and produced a brilliant individual move himself, which Finn Maher finished.

Sam Egger ended up with three tries on the day. No. 8 Finn Burch and Berkeley Bordhus also scored. Gabe Klassen, drawn in to start at prop due to injuries and unavailabilities, reeled off some long runs and scored a try of his own. Lock Ethan Blakie also got over the line.

It was an impressive showing from Kingfishers, but they take some time off around Easter and we won't see them on the field again until mid-April.

In a difficult and well-played game Gonzaga held off the Charlotte Cardinals.

Gonzaga Holds Off Charlotte Cardinals in High-Intensity Matchup

Touted after the Carolina Ruggerfest as a team to watch, the Richmond Strikers beat the Raleigh Redhawks in a cross-border game that did a lot to show that, indeed, the Strikers' brand of fast play is a dangerous one.

Fresh off a valuable engagement with Gonzaga the prior weekend, the Redhawks looked to continue their early season success against an upstart Strikers squad who entered the GRR rankings off their showing at NC Ruggerfest. Richmond received the opening kickoff, but the Raleigh defense struck quickly and took possession, relentlessly driving down the pitch with a physical attack that distributed the ball across the pitch and put the Richmond defense on its heels. A penalty kick put Raleigh on the board first, 3-0. The Raleigh offensive pressure continued, but the Richmond side settled and matched the Redhawks intensity. 

The Strikers offense worked its integrated combination of middle power and edge speed to mount a 28-3 halftime lead. Raleigh came out of the halftime gate with a punishing middle attack, but the Richmond defense met the challenge and contained the Redhawks, building a 42-3 lead before the resilient Redhawks struck with a try that resulted in a 42-10 final score and win by the Strikers.

Injuries have his the Redhawks early, and while they expect to get some of those players back, their starting hooker is out for the season and that is a blow.

SLUH toured Illinois, losing to Neuqua and beating New Trier.

New York vs Connecticut

Rye set themselves up nicely for their clash with Xavier this coming weekend. Senior Jack Acciavatti led the way with two tries in their 42-7 win over Ridgefield out of Connecticut. 

Xavier beat Aspetuck in a game we'll have more details on later today. 

We host Xavier next Saturday night March 23rd in Rye for a big matchup.  Will send photos and updates.

Pelham defeated Fairfield Prep in a nailbiter. More here: Late Kick Sees Pelham Past Fairfield Prep

Ohio

St. Edward beat Penn by a wide margin last week and then ran into a tough game with St. Xavier this past weekend. For St. Edward, it was a good test and one they passed to the tune of 24-20. For St. X., there were some big positives. They led 20-12 late in a game that was marked by a very stiff wind. Down 12-5 St. Xavier started to control possession and field position and ran in two tries to lead at halftime, and added a penalty goal in the second half.

They did this without their regular scrumhalf, flyhalf, and tighthead prop, all injured. Mason Moore stepped in to replace Oliver Weidner at flyhalf and did well, but it was only his second game playing the position. Discipline for both teams seemed to fall away late. Two yellow cards for St. X. led to two St. Edward tries. Luke Dotson's try and Connor Burg's conversion made it 24-20.

Hoping to close the game out, St. Ed's then ran into card trouble themselves—a red card for a dangerous tackle and a yellow for a high tackle made it 15 on 13 as time wound down. But playing against the wind St. Xavier's options were limited. A break down the sideline was ended with a tackle driving the runner into touch, and St. Ed's held on.

Tries for St. X by Alexander Samson, Logan Kiser, and Carson Padgett, with Brendan Lucey adding a conversion and a penalty. For St. Edward, Owen Schultz, Logan Baumbick, Dotson, and one other unnamed, with two Burge conversions, accounted for their points.

St. Ignatius played two varsity games, beating Penn by a comfortable margin and beating Detroit Central Catholic in a game where they had the wind and looked quite strong, only to see DCC come back with the wind at their backs. SIHS held on there.

Southern California

We talk about this here:

Raptors vs Thunder Highlights SoCal Weekend including what's happening with Belmont Shore and San Diego. 

Try Time Rugby edged OMBAC 40-34, while Empire and Pasadena also won in SoCal's D2. Empire and Try Time lead the D2 league at 2-0. And they get to play each other this coming weekend. 

Northern California

In a crossover on Tuesday night Belmont Shore of SoCal beat Elsie Allen of NorCal. The Lobos were coming off a nice win over Lamorinda, paced by Aydehn Presler's two tries. Earlier, the big game was clearly De La Salle's 19-3 win over Granite Bay: De La Salle Downs Granite Bay in NorCal

Marin continues to produce notable wins and they defeated SFGG 28-14 over the weekend. Danville produced a strong performance in their 50-24 defeat of Mother Lode. Marin and Danville face off this coming weekend.

RugbyPA

St. Joe's Prep, Conestoga, and Cumberland Valley all kicked off the Rugby PA D1 with wins. So did Gregory the Great, beating a strong Berks did 27-19.

GGA had played a series of warmup games that were difficult, but provided some good lessons.

"Every team wants to start the season with a win, and we are no exception," said GGA Head Coach Garret van Beek. "We are excited for the opportunity to play our brand of rugby, and that it produces a team to keep the state trophy. Those preseason matches told us that 'big games swing on little moments,' And that mistakes are opportunities for the other team to capitalize."

North Carolina

The Charlotte Tigers impressed with a win over the Raleigh Rattlesnakes. But the result to really note was a crossover game ...

Pacific Northwest

We went into some detail on the big game for Eastside Lions in beating in-state rivals Camas in Washington. Eastside Sends Nationals Message in Rugby Washington Win. Flyhalf Kellem Eskridge was outstanding running the attack and kicking for space.

In Oregon, Chinook, Eastside Tsunami, and Summit all looked impressive in openers.

Oklahoma

While Bixby did lose to St. Martin's they also logged a league win over Norman thanks in part to Jackson Neeman's two tries. Norman actually scored more tries than Bixby, but converted only one. Bixby converted one of four but added two penalty goals, one from Jacob Martin and one from Elia Reynaga, to edge Norman 28-27. Wichita looked good in a shutout win over Gryphons. Salvatore Delgaudio scored three tries, as did Quenten Daily.