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Paific Cup Round 1 Latest

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Paific Cup Round 1 Latest

Danville v CK McClatchy. Photo courtesy Danville Oaks.

The first round of the Pacific Cup is in the books, with Peninsula Green, Danville, Red Mountain, and Kahuku all winning games.

Peninsula Green played a tough game against the Bay Barbarians, a team made up of players from Archbishop Riordan and Los Gatos. it was a talented and athletic Barbarians side, but Pen Green's unity of purpose saw them through 29-12.

"We played pretty well today," said Pen Green Coach Bob Benson. "We were able to smash it up with the forwards and also did well when we got it out to the backs."

The pick of the tries was probably Sam Makaafi chasing down a kick, seeing that the CK defender couldn't gather it, and taking the ball on the bounce at full pace and galloping in under the posts.

Danville had to work for it early against CK McClatchy, but eventually the Oaks won going away 71-10.

Kahuku had a lot of trouble with the 2015 Oregon single-school champion Union Titans. Union's backline tested Kahuku, and at halftime the score was Kahuku 12, Union 6.

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"It's great to play a single-school team - we don't get to do that too often," said Kahuku Coach Seamus Fitzgerald. "Their backs were fast and really tested us. They broke our line several times. But we were able to do enough. We played too much as individuals and kind of lost our way early, but we got it back."

Union did manage a try in the second half, but Kahuku scored three times for a 29-11 victory. 

Red Mountain was led by flanker Nasi Ma'afu, who impressed mightily in a battle of a game against the San Diego Mustangs.

"This was exactly the kind of game we needed and the kind of game we were looking for in the Pacific Cup," said Red Mountain Coach OJ Hawea. "In fact we talked with the Mustangs coaches and said we need to play each other a lot more. We're only six hours away from each other."

Red Mountain started very strong, but got too impatient in the second half. 

"They wanted the ball back, and if they'd been patient on defense, they would have got it," said Hawea. Instead, Red Mountain was caught offside repeatedly, and ended up defending just about the entire half. Still they held on 20-12.

So Friday's games at Treasure Island are as follows:

 

Consolation Semis

11am CK McClatchy v San Diego Mustangs

2pm Bay Barbarians v Union

 

Cup Semis

12:30pm Danville v Red Mountain

3:30pm Peninsula Green v Kahuku

 

Saturday will see the final placement games.