It’s been an intriguing and slightly wild weekend in the Southern California Boys Varsity White quarterfinals.

The Mira Costa Mustangs continued their unbeaten run with a convincing 43-5 defeat of Alta Vista, Rancho Bernardo crushed Citrus Valley 54-0, and St. John Bosco came back to beat Dead Rabbits 26-19. But the strangest result was between View Park Prep and University City. The two teams were evenly-matched, and in a thrilling game, finished tied 36-36. But while that is complicated in itself, that’s not the only issue. Late in the game, referee Joshua Pendergrass made a mistake in noting down a UC conversion (this Pendergrass confirmed with GRR). As a result, as time was winging down, and he was asked by the View Park coaches what the score was, he told View Park they were ahead by two points. View Park basically ran out the clock and the game ended in what View Park thought was a victory.

But as everyone was eating post-match food and getting ready to leave, various parties confided with the referee to confirm that the score was actually a 36-36 tie - both teams scored six tries, and converted three.

“It was a great game, played in a great spirit,” said View Park Coach David Hughes.

View Park was almost unstoppable when they had space out wide. University City’s flyhalf, Patrick Madden, controlled territory smartly with his kicking and use of his various attacking options. It was a game of two very different styles.

We at Goff Rugby Report have been trying to confirm what this all means. As we have heard unofficially, SoCal Youth Rugby’s policy in the past has been to not play overtime at the quarterfinal level. But it’s not clear whether overtime would have been played if everyone hadn’t been on their way home Friday night.

Unofficially, the word is that the higher-seeded team, University City, will advance. But this has not been confirmed despite repeated requests for information from SoCal Youth Rugby.

In the other games, Rancho Bernardo was led by Nathan Lovato in the backs and Wesley Anderson in the forwards. St. John Bosco had all sorts of problems with the Dead Rabbits in a physical game. It wasn’t until the second half that Bosco got rolling, and pulled ahead.

And finally there is Mira Costa, which has hardly put a foot wrong all season.

The Mustangs had to make some last-minute changes due to missing three starters and a key sub, but they kept their composure, dominating field position. Costa moved sophomore No. 8 Jonah Tavai to center for his brother, Justus, and he was a force in the midfield. Justin Johnson moved from lock to No. 8 and put plenty of defensive pressure on Alta Vista. Justin Goring, also playing out of position, embraced his disruptive role at flanker.

Jonah Tavai thundered over for the opening try, and then consistent pressure led to flanker Greg Boras picking up and surging over. 

Tries from wing Kaden Loversky, wing Kevin Russell, and Tavai’s second off a quick tap put the game essentially out of reach. Flyhalf Brandon Espeso capped it off with two nice runs for tries.

There was a very scary point in the match just before halftime when Alta Vista’s excellent scrumhalf, Gabriel Martinez, took an accidental hit from one of his own players and injured his neck. As the paramedics came onto the field, the two teams circled up to pray for him. Fortunately, word is Martinez is not injured badly.

Jonah Tavai, a regular pick for Forward of the Match during the season, received Back of the Match. Justin Johnson was Forward of the Match, while scrumhalf Harrison Dulgarian was player of the game. 

So that leaves four teams in the semifinals, with the actual matchups to be confirmed. Mira Costa, St. John Bosco, and Rancho Bernardo are all through for sure, and we await official confirmation that it will be University City through for the fourth spot.