Playoff Implications in NJ, Va, Ohio, Washington, Oregon
Playoff Implications in NJ, Va, Ohio, Washington, Oregon
Let's take a look at some HS Boys results from New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia, Ohio, and Washington.
New Jersey
St Augustine defeated #49 Christian Brothers Academy with the winner slated to take the first spot in the New Jersey State Championship game on May 18. St Augustine were coming into this game with a couple of injuries following the tough battle against Georgetown Prep the week prior. St Augustine took an early 10-0 lead after tries from the Scaffidi brothers (Nicholas, the senior and Santino, the junior). Christian Brothers managed to make a comeback, with St Augustine making some mistakes in their own 22; leaving the score 19-10 for CBA at halftime.
St Augustine came out strong again in the second half, with four unanswered tries, all converted by Jack Delmonte. That brought the score to 38-19. Christian Brothers scored one more to get a four-try bonus points to finish it up 38-24.
St Augustine host Morris Lions in the final regular season game on May 11. Morris just defeated Delbarton 17-15.
Virginia
Two tries from center Charles Greenburg and three crucial conversions from Liam Albion (who also scored a try) paced Richmond to a 26-24 win over Vienna to get the Strikers to the Virginia state final. Chandler Nelson had a try for the Strikers. Richmond expanded 7-5 halftime lead to a 21-5 advantage before Vienna came storming back with two Matthew Vojta tries. But Richmond's fourth effort made it a two-score game at 26-17, so the final penalty try just made it achingly close for Vienna.
Fort Hunt took care of Loudoun County 56-5. Miquel Lopez was a perfect 8-for-8 on conversions while Oliver Greer ran the attack very well from flyhalf. Alofi Sake was excellent making big yardage and also defending well. It was a solid team showing from the Warriors.
Ohio
Olentangy took 4th in the Midwest championships and remains undefeated in Ohio's club competition. But right behind them are Avon Lake and Dayton Northern Force. Tries from Tyler Allison, Graham Jordan, Matthew White, Lucas Hickernell, and Trey Quincy all scored tries for Northern Force in. 31-14 win over Toleda/Woodward to move to 5-1. Avon Lake has vastly improved this season and is also now at 5-1 after beating Highland 17-5. Jack Pavey, Caleb Smith, and Alex Von der Lieth scored tries in that victory.
This follows up on some very convincing wins for Avon Lake and they are spreading the scoring wealth around.
Both are chasing Olentangy, however. After a loss in a non-conference game against St. Ignatius, Olentangy made some changes.
"We made some adjustments in our backline," said Coach Kyle Basnett. "We moved our scrumhalf to flyhalf and our flyhalf too fullback. We took last year's fullback and put him at scrumhalf—he has a high rugby IQ. It has been incredible to watch them develop. We now have a scrumhalf playing flyhalf who drives the team like it’s a Ferrari and a flyhalf playing fullback who loves bombing the ball in the air at advantageous times."
Medina leads the single-school league and they were at the Midwest Championships as well. Meanwhile Warrior is now right behind at 5-1. Warrior got tries from Logan Stentz, Jayden Hom, Lincolnd Welch, and Cody West, with two Hayden Perusse conversions, to beat Hilliard 24-7 to get to 5-1. They are one game behind Medina.
Oregon
The Eastside Tsunami and Summit County both came into the weekend 6-0 in regular-season, and the Tsunami took this game 34-15 to take the #1 seed going into the playoffs. Bend beat West Valley to get to 502 and Chinook won comfortably over Canby to get to 4-3 and that's your top four.
"We have a really strong backline this year with quite a bit of experience," said Tsunami Head Coach Dane Bevan. "This was a good test for us."
A good test because most of the games this season have been very comfortable victories for Eastside.
Fergus Moore has been impressive with kicking from the hand, while flanker Charlie Hepp has been excellent on defense. All signs point to a rematch in the final in a couple of weeks at the campus of Western Oregon University, but, warned Bevan, "we know we can't overlook Chinook.
Washington
The Eastside Lions defeated Camas in a massive rainstorm to remain undefeated in Washington league play. The conditions set the stage for a match dominated by tactical kicking and a forward's game of attrition. Eastside Lions opened the scoring when a well-placed kick from scrumhalf Noah Clarke's landed behind the Camas defense. The chase forced a scrum and from there swift passing set up center Tristan Lolohea for a run in for the opening try.
Camas responded with scrumhalf Vance Gooch scoring, punishing an Eastside penalty with a weaving run that he also converted. Camas held that 7-5 lead into the break.
The second half saw no respite from the weather, with the game continuing to be a battle of scrums and wet ball-handling. Eastside regained the lead early in the half when Jerry Fleming converted a penalty awarded for Camas not rolling away, making it 8-7. As the match entered its final quarter, Eastside began to find gaps in the weary Camas defense. Noah Clarke capitalized on a Camas fumble within their 22, sniping through for a try. Fleming converted, pushing the score to 15-7.
The persistent pressure from Eastside paid off again in the 70th minute. From a scrum, Lewis Chambers and Clarke orchestrated a play down the blindside, with winger Landon Barton creating the crucial space at the ruck for Chambers to score, extending Eastside's lead to 20-7.
Camas, however, showed why they were formidable opponents at home. As the match neared its end, their forwards, led by hooker Anthony "AJ" Hroza, mounted one final assault, resulting in Hroza crashing over for a try that reignited the home crowd's spirits. Gooch's conversion brought the score to 20-14.
This was a good test for Eastside, which remains undefeated in a league where everyone else seems somewhat even (Liberty beat Chuckanut 15-14, for example).