Pendleton Rolls to Midwest Title
Pendleton Rolls to Midwest Title
Pendleton defeated St. Ignatius in the final of the Midwest Championships Sunday, taking the game 25-21 to cap off a 3-0 weekend.
While it is fair to say this was not a completely full-strength St. Ignatius team—no seniors due to prom weekend—this was still a very good showing from the Arabians of Indiana.
Pendleton opened their account with an emphatic 63-7 win over Medina og Ohio. That put them in the semifinal against St. Edward, which came into that game dealing with a few injuries. Pendleton was rolling at that points 34-10.
Elijah Pimental scored three tries against Medina while Jacob Rowley was outstanding on defense. Inside center Nate DeRolf set up his runners well while Peyton Pollock and Eli Arthur was strong on attack.
In the final, Ignatius ran out to a 14-0 lead but Pendleton didn't panic and clawed their way back. They worked their way to a 25-14 lead before Ignatius scored the final try to close it to 25-21, just to show how hard they were willing to work. As we said, injuries and senior availability meant this was a young lineup, but they battled. Pimental was named game MVP.
"At the end of the day, we couldn't be more proud of the boys and how they played today," said SIHS Assistant Coach Brian White. "Losing 25-21 in the Midwest Championship game against a team where only two players saw any significant playing time versus our first game and the fact that only two of these young men had ever worn our championship jersey in a prior game."
"Twenty years competing at Midwests and our first win!" enthused Pendleton Head Coach Curtis Trout. "It was so fun. The Ignatius underclassmen made their school proud with their effort and how they started the game."
Pendleton also played short due to attrition.
"It was one of the best-spirited rugby games I have been around in a long time," added Trout.
St. Edward won comfortably over Olentangy to take 3rd, while Notre Dame de la Salette took 5th, while also winning the JV title.