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Carlsbad, Servite To Meet In SoCal Varsity White Final

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Carlsbad, Servite To Meet In SoCal Varsity White Final

Alex Patolo for Carlsbad pushes off some attention.

It will be Servite vs Carlsbad in the Southern California Varsity White final after both won semifinal games Friday night.

Servite slammed La Jolla 57-12 in a showcase of their athleticism and power.

Wile La Jolla had their moments, they struggled to match Servite's overall pace. That told relatively early. La Jolla ran the phases and was bashing against the Servite tryline. But Servite held on, cleared their lines, and then sent fullback Mike Matthews 60 meters for a try. That sparked Servite and undercut La Jolla a bit, and the race was on.

"Right now we’re playing some really physical rugby and our conditioning is good," said Head Coach Manoa Pouono. Also the Servite HS football offensive line coach, Pouono has rugby and football working hand-in-hand. "Our guys still have to do their lifting for football. We have huge buy-in from our [football] Head Coach, Troy Thomas. The guys are getting their work in and it shows. We're fit and we're getting stronger in the second half."

Against La Jolla, the big guys had to work hard and started to control the flow of the game. Meanwhile, along with Matthews, centers Troy Fletcher and Jared Amasio combined well on attack, and flyhalf Jacob Manu was a solid decision-maker at the pivot.

Next up for Servite will be Carlsbad, which defeated Murrieta Valley 24-12. This was the closest game Carlsbad has had all season. Part of tha was because captain DJ Young was unable to play because he had received a red card in the quarterfinals. A little undercut by not having their leader on the field with them, the Carlsbad players still got the job done.

With Isaac Tinoisamoa, Alex Patolo, and Solomon Williams were very hard to contain despite a strong MV defensive effort.

"It was really a forwards game," said Head Coach Jacob Campbell. "They didn't really let us use our backline so we had to adjust. The guys did a really good job."

The final looks to be a good one. Carlsbad gets Young back, and Campbell said he likes his chances.

"We're feeling confident," he said.