Detroit Central Catholic will face Traverse City in the Rugby Michigan boys final.
DCC defeated Rockford's B side in the first round of the playoffs over the weekend, taking that game 69-0 and then the second game 43-20 over West Ottawa.
"Overall it was a great weekend of rugby at probably the best-maintained field in Michiga, (thanks to West Ottawa," said DCC Head Coach Ian Ronayne. "All teams in the tournament showcased great effort and played to the very last minute. We had a great team match against Rockford and had some momentum rolling into the match against West Ottawa."
The enthusiasm kind of undercut DCC's discipline and they were shown four cards, including one red, during that game. The Shamrocks played 12-on-15 at one point, but they stood strong in defense. Leading the way for DCC were wing Gren Vartanian, scrumhalf Will Reed, and prop Rob Wierzbicki, who all scored three tries over the weekend. Vartanian also took on goalkicking duties, and he boasted a 90% success rate, including a long penalty goal that set the tone.
With No. 8 Aidan Quinn and center Jack Wilcvewski scoring two tries and causing defenses problems, and lock Zach Masset a lineout force, winning all of his own team's throws and stealing almost 90% off opposition throws, DCC had plenty of possession and go-forward.
Garen Vartanian (senior wing) had 3 tries, 90% on conversion kicks, and hit a long penalty kick
- Will Reed (junior scrumhalf) had 3 tries
- Rob Wierzbicki (senior prop) had 3 tries
- Jack Wilczewski (senior inside center) 2 tries
- Aidan Quinn (senior 8man) 2 tries
- Zach Massey (senior lock) won 100% of offensive lineouts and stole 88% of defensive lineouts
We let the energy of the match get to us and became a bit undisciplined against W Ottawa (4 cards total, including a red card early on), but despite playing 15 v 12 at one point, our team had relentless pursuit and stuck to our system to see the victory through. Traverse City looks very strong, has a good kick game, and is very well organized. They will make for a tough and well-matched opponent for us in the state final.
Round 1
DCC 69- Rockford B 0
West Ottawa 22 Brighton 12
Rockford A 18 Loyola 10
Traverse City 81 Howell 5
Round 2
DCC 43 West Ottawa 20
Traverse City 40 Rockford 17
