Eastside, Liberty Book Spots in Rugby Washington Final
Eastside, Liberty Book Spots in Rugby Washington Final
The Liberty Patriots and Eastside Lions will face off for the Rugby Washington D1 final after both won semifinals on Saturday.
Liberty defeated the Rainier Highlanders 43-30.
Liberty won with a structured offense. Flanker and captain Seamus Twohey broke through the line for an early try, and while Rainier answered with a penalty goal, Liberty put fullback Sefa Laepai through on a long run.
Down 12-3 Rainier answered with a try, but from there the Liberty defense ramped up. They moved forward quickly and made tackles behind the gainline. Meanwhile, the Patriots got tries from center Ave Toso, prop Wayne Olive, and two from wing Viliame Vela on a 31-3 run that made it 43-13.
Rainier fought back furiously in the second half in some of the hardest hitting action of the day. But it was too far to climb. The Highlanders did score three tries to make it 43-30, but Liberty held on.
Eastside Lions 32 Camas Papermakers 20
In a game that had everything from blistering counter-attacks to bone-jarring tackles and last-ditch heroics, the Eastside Lions booked their ticket to the State Championship Final with a 32-20 win over Camas in a pulsating semifinal at Lake Stevens Community Park.
Played under near-perfect rugby conditions—a dry, slightly overcast afternoon that made for fast footing and clean handling—the match pitted the disciplined, structured play of Eastside against the tenacity and unpredictability of a Camas outfit that simply refused to go quietly.
Territorial pressure produced a try for Eastside early, running through the phases before center Parker Jackson exploited a seam to crash over. Camas handled that and answered with a length-of-the-field movement that was ended with a tackle and a knock-on. Another chance, this time a clever kick in behind the Eastside defense, was also an almost-try. Eastside had chances, too, but some solid tackling from wing Jonathan Houlding shut them down.
Eastside finally added to their score with an impressive sequence involving offloads, some elusive run, and backdoor passes. Eventually prop Zayne Kauwea charged on through to make it 10-0.
Camas weren’t cowed. Houlding narrowed the gap with a penalty, and then, the restart, Camas center Rylan Reinebach tore up the middle of the field, cutting through a porous Eastside midfield. He was dragged down just short, but lock Jeremiah Buzan was in support to finish to make it 10-8.
Eastside responded with flyhalf Kellen Eskridge putting wing Junior Rasileka into space and over. And as halftime approached the Lions scored again. they drew in the defense into the middle of the field and Save Lotawa dove over for a crucial try. No conversions yet but it was 20-8 at the break.
Camas roared out of the sheds, dominated the early collisions, and eventually saw No.8 Nick Burchett muscle over. The teams traded tries with replacement center Austen Chan slicing through the defense off a scrum for an Eastside try, only for Camas to break out of their half and set up flanker Makhi Miller to charge through a series of tacklers to score from his 22. With the crowd on their feet, Houlding nailed the sideline conversion to make it 25-20.
Eastside’s discipline then faltered. Flanker Seth Abood, just back from the sinbin, collected a second yellow for another high tackle, and thus a red card. With a man down and the game on a knife’s edge, the Lions dug deep. Eskridge carved through the Camas line and linked up with the ever-dangerous Parker Jackson, who bagged his second try under the posts. Conversion good and it was 32-20. And that's how it ended.
A relentless Camas would rue some execution breakdown. Eastside now looks ahead to playing Liberty in the final.
