In a tough hard-nosed clash in Northern Florida, the Daytona Beach Li’l Nuts edged the Cape Pirates 8-6 in a result that will be very good news to Orlando.

“As the season goes on the tackling gets better, we see it every year, and that was definitely true this week,” said Daytona Coach Trent Veseley. “We needed a big defensive effort today.”

Daytona has been tinkering with the flyhalf position ever since Vesely’s son, Sam, went down with an injury. They may have found their solution as scrumhalf Alec Pitts moved into the #10 jersey and did very well in organizing the defense. 

Meanwhile, in the set piece, John Mauro had a big impact. Daytona were without their big lock Kendrick Williams, who was visiting colleges, and Williams has been the Nuts’ main lineout weapon. In his stead Mauro stepped up and helped solidify that aspect of play.

Still, the offense sputtered for both teams, and there was only one try. Defensive pressure forced a dropped ball that was kicked through, and center Devine Chrissley sped after it and scored the key try.

With the result, Daytona improved to 3-2 in the very tough North Pool. The Pirates, who had been thinking pool title, dropped to 3-2. That left Orlando, easy winners in a game that doesn’t count in the standings, at 4-1. Orlando now just has to beat the Cape Pirates April 11 to win the pool and make the state semis. The Pirates are in a pickle because they need to beat Orlando and hope Daytona loses to winless Tampa (possibly the best 0-5 team in the country). Daytona, then, needs Orlando to lose to the Pirates to win the pool.

There was only one other game that had an affect on the standings, and this was a bit of a surprise, as Riviera Beach beat in-pool rivals Jupiter 78-0. The victory for the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but the margin of victory was. Coach Dave Sellepak said the offensive explosion was coming.

“We have had six players out injured and we finally got them back last week,” said Sellepack. “We’ve been playing decently enough. But the payers made a big impact. Even so, you look at the games we’ve played and we score a lot.”

Captain Curtis Green and Anthony Ferrera led an impressive attack. 

“We’ve been working with our forwards to get them bigger and stronger,” said Sellepack. “But everyone on the team is extremely fast. Once we get running, we’re hard to stop.”

Riviera Beach is only in their second year playing rugby. The charter school is one of the few single-school teams in Florida. They are now 5-0 in South Pool 2.