All to Play for in NorCal
All to Play for in NorCal
Championship games are on the horizon in Northern California, with two tight rivalries on the slate.
Northern California Premier
SFGG hadn’t played De La Salle in the regular season, the game had been postponed and never made up. But the result turned out OK as those two teams ended up #2 and #3 in the semifinals and played each other anyway.
SFGG put together an excellent performance to win 34-24. Head Coach Tony Wells was happy, overall, with his team’s defensive performance and their fight.
Leading the way is the extended Maguire family, which had three players in SFGG’s starting pack and one on the bench. Hooker Gavin Maquire was exceptional on the day and center Christian Calero had a big day. Both scored tries.
Flanker and captain Eion Burke continues to lead the way, especially on defense.
The game started very well for the DLS spartans, as they scored off a lineout-and-maul. But penalties hurt De La Salle and it was SFGG that score next, punishing a series of infractions and eventually bashing it over with the forwards. They scored another the same way but the Spartans scored twice, including a superb maul from the 22, to lead 17-12 at the break.
De La Salle had been able to launch off lineout and scrum, and looked dangerous in open play, but SFGG’s defense, despite the three tries allowed, was holding on.
SFGG, for their part, opted to go vertical and starve DLS of possession. It was simple, direct, and very hard to stop. Gavin Maquire and Calero scored, both converted by Martin McCusker, and the flyhalf added a penalty goal for a 29-17 lead. DLS scored to make it a 29-24 game and had a lineout five meters out with the minutes to go. The Maul was stopped and went to the ground—ruling … no ball produced from the maul and a scrum for SFGG. McCusker hoofed the ball down the field, DLS turned it over, and a few moves later Flynn O’Connell was over to seal it 34-24.
DLS graduates some talented players but will return a large portion of this team.
SFGG, meanwhile, looks ahead to a Granite Bay side that won their semifinal 20-3 over Danville.
It was a superb defensive showing from the Grizzlies.
“Danville plays us so tough,” said Granite Bay Head Coach Chris Miller. “They are such a smart, skilled, and physical team.”
The match was very intense and treated like a playoff game—bonus points for tries would not be the goal … its all about scoring points.
Miller praised his team’s patience in waiting for the few opportunities the Oaks presented, and then they took those chances.
So this week two teams with only one loss in league play face off in the final. Granite Bay lost a close one to DLS, but on April 5 beat SFGG 29-26.
The final promises to be just as close.
Northern California Gold
The San Mateo Wolverines are a very good rugby team. They will be the only Northern California club going to the Boys HS Rugby National Championships. While they tied Carmichael last week, they had already booked a spot in the Gold Division final and so rested some players. In fact, for the Wolverines, their best result may have been a loss.
San Mateo went across the country to play the Charlotte Cardinals and were very competitive in a 46-22 loss.
Lamorinda, for their part, had been clicking quite nicely but they stumbled a bit with a draw against EPA two weekends ago. They got that tie thanks to a big charge on what would have been the game-winning conversions.
These two teams met on April 12, with the Wolverines winning 41-24. No. 8 OC Lehner and center Elliot Lewis were named Lamo’s top players (these two were often MOM award-winners for their club). For San Mateo, center Kingston Keaiana was the top back, and Mone Pifeleti was best among the forwards
