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Fort Hunt Boys Win Virginia

irish rugby tours

Fort Hunt Boys Win Virginia

The Fort Hunt Warriors U19 team capped an unprecedented undefeated run through Virginia high school rugby with a 30-7 win over West End to lay claim to the Virginia State Championship.

Fort Hunt's Tom Brunt was MVP of the game and opened the scoring with a penalty, before prop Austin LaGow bulled over for the first try of the game. The Warriors went into the half with an 8-0 lead.

The Warriors got gritty when they needed it, putting in 4 second-half tries. The first 2 of those tries were shorthanded, by Anthony Wright and Josh Ransom. West End’s Tony Arias made it 18-7, before Brunt notched a pair of tries and one conversion to make the final tally 30-7. The win capped an undefeated season and gave Ft. Hunt its second state title in three years.

"We trailed in only one game all season, and that for just a few minutes," said Fort Hunt Coach Dale Roach. "[This was] a very strong effort over several months to win in a very competitive league."

Fort Hunt started the playoffs by knocking off the defending state champion NOVA in a tough match, 21-7.

In the second round, Denbigh from Newport News rolled into town with a big, strong, athletic team that sported a #2 seed in the Peninsula Conference. Denbigh quickly got the Warriors attention by taking a 7-0 lead, the first time all season that the Warriors trailed. Fort Hunt rallied with 29 unanswered points on the way to a 48-19 win and a championship berth. Every rostered Warrior got into the game and 6 different players scored.

“We knew going into this season that we had something special” said Roach. “These guys had the drive, the commitment and the talent to go all the way, and they did. I am really proud of these young men.”

Fort Hunt hopes to reload quickly as only 5 of the 8 seniors graduating from the team were starters.