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HSAA Team Completes Ontario Sweep

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HSAA Team Completes Ontario Sweep

Allison Bradfield photo.

The Boys High School All Americans put the Ontario Blues U19 provincial select side to the sword Saturday with a convincing 38-5 result at Appleby College in Oakville, Ont.

The HSAA team followed on from a 27-14 win on Thursday. Despite having only one day to recover and come back, and despite Ontario being in camp and having more fresh players on which to call, it was the touring Americans who came out the stronger on Saturday. Friday was a busy day for the HSAA team, as they got up early, working through film sessions well into the afternoon, and ran an on-field session before dinner.

See more photos of the HSAA team in Ontario here.

That was all they could fit in before addressing any issues seen by Head Coach Salty Thompson and his assistants Brendan Keane and Scott Bracken. But it all seemed to pay off nicely, as within three minutes the All Americans forced a turnover at midfield, spun the ball, and attacked on the wing. Lock Reid Brandt was quick in pursuit and got the offload to score in the corner. Leading 5-0, the HSAA team struck five minutes later, running their hard-charging forwards off the first receiver. They worked this move with flanker Jack Miller busting through the line, and  Brandt again was there for the pass that led to a try from 60-meters out and a 12-0 lead.

Ontario finally got to put the All Americans under pressure, and earned a kickable penalty. But the attempt was missed, and the HSAA team cleared away. The next score was again for the tourists, as the USA team punished a poor chase on a kick to counter, and center Mike Jennings burned Ontario to the corner for a 17-0 lead. The remainder of the half was a bit slower, as the HSAA team tried to exert a little more control on the tempo of the game. This led to some pressure on Ontario, and two penalties, both kickable, both made by flyhalf Marcos Young. Ontario, under a warning from the ref for killing the ball, did manage to then get some possession and scored a nicely-take try in the backs. That made it 23-5 at halftime.

Both sides ran in subs in the second half, and clearly Ontario wanted to run on as many fresh legs as possible to finish the stronger. It didn't work. The HSAA physicality in the tackle was impressive and a big tackle from center Jayden Demmy turned over possession, and hooker Jake Hedge rambled 20 meters for a try for the tourists. Sub flyhalf Brandon Boon zipped in for another to make it 33-5. And then a smartly-taken quick lineout led to a try for sub hooker Zachary Biggs.

Final score 38-5. It was a very impressive result for what is essentially a HS All American East team. Their ability to punish Ontario out wide was excellent.

See more photos of the HSAA team in Ontario here.

 

High School All Americans 38

Tries: Brandt 2, Jennings, Hedge, Boon, Biggs

Convs: Young

Pens: Young 2

HSAA Lineup:  1 Jonas Petrakopoulos (Royal Irish) - Sub Satchel Carnine (Penn High School); 2 Jake Hedge (Shore School, Sydney) - Sub Zachary Biggs (Penn High School); 3 Karem Odeh (Brunswick); 4 Steven Benson (Little Rock Junior Stormers) - Sub Joshua Schnell (Katy); 5 Reid Brandt (Charlotte Catholic); 6 Jack Miller (Brookline HS); 7 Zach Heisterkamp (St Edward) - Sub Joe Rusert-Cuddy (Palmer Terrors); 8 Bailey Wilson (United); 9 Ruben de Haas (Little Rock Junior Stormers) - Sub Luke Persanis (Pelham HS); 10 Marcos Young (Key Biscayne) - Sub Brandon Boon (Unionville) 11 Luke Bienstock (Greenwich HS); 12 Jayden Demmy (West Shore United) - Sub Andrew Baldado (St. Ignatius); 13 Mike Jennings (Staples) - Sub Isaac Good (Brownsburg); 14 Grant Broeder (Eureka) - Sub Eric Naposki-Abdalah (Fairfield Pegasi); 15 Jack Bradfield (St Edward)