Woodlands Storms Past Strake Jesuit
Woodlands Storms Past Strake Jesuit
The meeting between the top HS club team in Texas and likely the top Single-School team in Texas was set for a Friday night showdown; cold temperature restrictions at Strake ended up moving the game to Saturday, and on Saturday Woodlands took control.
The cold snap that had affected the Houston area all week had led to multiple cancelations across different sports. However, as the temperature rose and the wind settled, the rugby game kicked off Saturday morning.
It didn’t take long for Woodlands to seize the momentum. Center Junior Alatini opened the scoring with a try three minutes in. Neel Menon added the conversion, and a few minutes later No. 8 Orin Hart crossed over. Alatini added his second before 10 minutes were up and Woodlands led 17-0.
Strake Jesuit responded with a penalty goal from flyhalf Fran Moretti, but Woodlands answered right back. Wing Trace Snellman's try sparked an offensive surge that included three more tries and a 45-3 lead at halftime.
After the break, Woodlands made several substitutions, but the intensity didn’t drop. Elijah Capiro, Magnus Herndon, and Hart each added tries, with Menon converting again. With ten minutes left in the match, the game was halted due to a series of injuries sustained by Strake Jesuit. Final score 62-3 for Woodlands.
"The boys stuck to our game plan, and I was happy to see that," said Woodlands Head Coach Werner Marx. "Our defense was solid, and the intensity was good. Our penalty count was a bit high, but we can fix that moving forward."
Strake Jesuit Head Coach Jason Kimball was complimentary of his opponent:
"Have to tip my hat to them; that is the best high school team I have seen since I started coaching in 2005," said Kimball. "They have size, speed, are well coached and play their system flawlessly. They truly have no weak points to target. We had to hold tight and hope they made a mistake, which they didn’t. Wished we could have given them a better run, but even if we would have been at full strength I think the results would have been similar."
Strake did play the game without their two co-captains, who both were out with what is hoped to be short-term injuries. Another player was scratched due to illness just before kickoff. But Kimball reiterated that a full-strength Strake would have had to play perfectly to keep up with Woodlands.
For Strake, Lev Sharapov had an outstanding game both at hooker and flanker. Senior scrumhalf Jackson Hebert, who was needed at fullback late in the game, also performed admirably.