Ohio HS Teams Look to Finals Weekend
Ohio HS Teams Look to Finals Weekend
Rugby Ohio's 7s season comes to a close this coming weekend with one team in a position of heavy favorite.
But, of course, that isn't always a welcome position to be in.
(Note: GRR Editor Alex Goff is an assistant coach for the freshmen at St. Ignatius.)
St. Ignatius out of Cleveland has run six teams in the Rugby Ohio season so far, but they will enter just their 1st side in the eight-team Cup competition. This team is enough. The Wildcats have gone 15-0 so far this season, scoring 614 points in the process and allowing an astonishingly low 24. So that's basically an average of 41-2. Defensively, clearly, Ignatius is a tough nut to crack, but they combine it with a solid ability to keep the ball, meaning that they don't have to tackle for long periods. It's a controlled, skilled, and intelligent approach that has seen them tested only once or twice. In fact, perhaps their shakiest game might have been their last.
that turned out to be a 21-7 win over St. Edward, but was a game where Ed's was threatening before a turnover led to a long-range try to seal it for Ignatius.
"The first time we played them it was 44-0 so we kind of expected to roll over them and it didn't happen; they were way more physical than we though [they'd be, and] we were lazy," said captain mark French.
Penalties and miscues perhaps came at the right time for this Ignatius team as they enter a playoff bracket looking at continuing what is a winning streak dating back to the final in the fall of 2020—St. Edward won that game, but since then Ignatius has not lost.
It's a side with plenty of talent. Joe Deinhart, French, and Rafe Gabrocsek all scored tries in that win over St. Edward on Sunday. (French logged seven in three games on the day.)
But they have more players contributing. Connor Bender, who is more of a ruck-winner and tackler scored three tries against Perry (so did French). Jimmy Coughlin and Tom Passerallo are usually good for a highlight-reel try or two. Colin Spellacy and Connor Gallagher are smart playmakers with good kicking ability. Mason Hartley quietly gets the job done and is a smart link in the side. Even with the loss of Adam Bornhorst to injury Ignatius remains the favorite.
But are they unbeatable? Of course they are. They can be scored upon, and this weekend brings in some teams from the southern part of the state to shake things up.
Led by the scoring of Tyler Roth Highland is a dangerous side and they ended their regular season with a tie against Ignatius B, which was the first game all season the Ignatius 2nds had not come out on the winning side. Highland will play a speedy Walnut Hills team that took 2nd among the southern teams. Westshore has emerged as a squad with a good combination of physicality and speed.
As the #2 team out of the north they face a young St. Xavier side that is continuously improving. St. Xavier made the final last year and had a shot at taking home the title but the muddy conditions weren't to their advantage. They graduated several players from that team and so have been slightly in a rebuilding mode.
So #1 out of the south is Moeller, which in their last tournament beat Olentangy, St. X, and Marysville while allowing just two tries. However, Moeller and Walnut Hills have virtually the same record. It's been close in the south.
So the boys quarterfinals look like this:
St. Ignatius vs Marysville
Westshore vs St. Xavier
Highland vs Walnut Hills
Moeller vs St. Edward
There will also be a Shield competition for teams ranked 5th through 8th in their respective leagues. The quarterfinals are as follows:
Perrysburg vs Olentangy
Perry vs Dublin
Dayton Northern Forces vs Mentor
Shaker vs St. Charles
Shaker was very close to earning a spot in the cup and joins Dayton as the top two teams in this playoff.
Among the girls teams, which will compete at a different venue Sunday, and West Pitt out of Pennsvylvania carries the top seed. With Pittsburgh being closer to Cleveland than it is to the 7s venues in Pennsylvania, to Ohio they go. And it has worked out, as West Pitt just flat refuses to give up points. A team might sneak in a try here or there, but it's a rare occurrence.
Perrysburg gets the #2 seed after battling through a series of close games. St. Joseph's is #3 led by Madelyn Hubbell, one of the most-followed girls players on the Next Phase Rugby recruiting app, so it's not just GRR that things she can play.
With just six teams in the girls cup competition the teams are split into two groups of three. The pool winners play in the final. The Shield is formatted the same way.
