GRR: Southern California
Carlsbad won big in their first game of the New Year in the Southern California school league, defeating San Clemente 52-12.
The game itself felt a lot closer than the score might indicate—San Clemente did well to test the Carlsbad defense and did find gaps to exploit.
High school rugby is already on the slate this first weekend in January.
Southern California and North Carolina jump right back into competition and we'll see a couple more leagues get into the fray soon.
In North Carolina South Meck leads the way and is likely favored over Providence Friday night.
Southern California HS teams have been testing each other out before the Christmas break to get themselves prepped for the regular season ahead.
That regular season kicks off really soon—the first weekend in January in fact—so there isn't much time for these teams to get themselves up to speed.
Word came down from various opposing coaches early this season—2022 national cub runner-up Belmont Shore wasn't just good, they were better than laster year.
From the opening week of play that seemed to be true. Belmont Shore brought back several returning players, but also reloaded with a pile of talent and, to a certain extend, a different look.
Belmont Shore is now alone atop the Southern California HS Club standings after a 33-26 defeat of the San Diego Mustangs.
"Good contest," said Mustangs Head Coach MAtty Sandoval. "The better team won; [Belmont Shore] is better than last year, probably the best team in the country. We played well."