West Shore United will play the Exiles in the Boys HS Club final of the HSRC 7s tournament at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Sunday.

Both West Shore and the Exiles won their pools, with West Shore winning big over Narberth and North Thorn, and then 19-12 over Utah Lions 2. That final game was a tough one against a Lions program that had been stung somewhat with their 1st team losing two pool matches. More on that in a moment.

In the semifinal against Rocky Mountain, West Shore ran out to a 21-0 halftime lead and then “hit a wall,” said West Shore Coach Sean Robinson, who also brought in Chris Rumple to handle 7s for the highly-ranked 15s team from Pennsylvania. “They came back. They’re a tough team, and then Gage Shackelford iced it for us.”

West Shore won 28-12.

“Chris Rumple has us playing some really good 7s,” said Robinson. “We have been defending well and we know we will have to do that against the Exiles and stop their fast guy on the wing. We have to shut him down to have a chance.”

​Shackelford, Marvis Barrientos, and Jayden Demme also provided a spark for West Shore.

The Pennsylvania team will face the Exiles, a team that, like West Shore, has a heavy influence from the Atlantis U18 team that won in Las Vegas. The Exiles, coached by former USA national team player Paul Sheehy, included players from the Maryland Exiles, Gonzaga, Georgetown Prep, and the Warrenton Wolfpack. That last team listed provided the speedster mentioned by Robinson, one D'Montae Noble. A very quick and elusive runner (see the link to the Atlantis article), Noble was a try-scoring machine as the Exiles defeated the Utah Lions 1 17-10, Glendale 31-0, and New Jersey Blaze 24-17. That put them on top of the Pool of Death, and set up a semifinal with Berkshire, which the Exiles won 17-7. 

“D’Montae is a special play,” enthused Sheehy. “With his pace and the platform set by the Gonzaga guys, who have just been playing so much rugby together, we did well. Our guys are good athletes but they also have a high rugby IQ. We played our game, secured possession, and our defense was strong. We’re excited to face West Shore tomorrow.”

It was a weird pool play in they the Exiles pool included the Lions and the Blaze, two teams that had legitimate Cup aspirations. Meanwhile, West Shore’s pool was not strong, but both teams made the most of their opportunities.

The final will be played inside PPL Park on Sunday.