Rainier Holds Off Eastside to Win Washington Boys Final

06.07.2022

rainier highlanders vs eastisde 2022 wa final 1

The Rainier Highlanders held off the Eastside Lions to win the Rugby Washington Boys HS final this past weekend.

It was a tight playoff throughout as Rainier beat Liberty only by 19-14 in the semifinals. Eastside, the #1 seed, took down Budd Bay 31-5.

In the final, it was also extremely close. Eastside scored early with some nice smooth hands putting the ball through the line from one side of the field to the other to score in the corner.

That 5-0 lead held up through the first half, and in the second half the Lions tried to go to the boot early in an attempt to control territory and the clock. But Rainier's counterattack was effective and the Highlanders scored two quick tries running back kicks. The second of those was from the restart and exploited a gap in the Eastside chase. That made it 10-5.

From there Rainier was able to use their 2-4-2 pattern to free the flanker Joey Vailoa to charge through for a try and a 15-5 lead.

But Eastside settled down and scored to inch closer at 15-12. Both teams traded possessions between the 22s before Eastside was able to get a penalty awarded within flyhalf Nick Davis's range. The potential game-tying kick drifted wide, and the referee blew the whistle for full time.

"This team had the largest collection of athletes that I've coached ever," said Rainier Head Coach Angelo Del Vecchio. "But it was severely lacking in rugby IQ. That was our biggest focus this year. We developed into a second-half team that used the 2-4-2 effectively. Our halfback combo was a pair of seniors that really owned the offense and became the glue for our club."

That halfback combo of Loni Aho and Aaron Root was huge, but there were other contributors, especially senior hooker Nolan Pearson and Vailoa at flanker, also a senior. Their high work rate and defense was a big part of the Rainier's run to the title.

"I'm not sure you can count more than two or three missed tackles combined between them this season," said Del Vecchio. "That kind of skill gave the rest of our defense confidence that we could bend without breaking, which we showed late in the game when we held Eastside out on several phases inside the five-meter line. The athletes bought into our strategy and substitution pattern as the results on the pitch showed them how effective we could be."

This was a tough year for the Highlanders. Several players on the team lost family members, and in a frightening case of mistaken identity, two of the Rainier players suffered gunshot wounds. Both survived and one was able to return to the team, but another remains injured.

"It's never the way you want to see a team bond, but I believe that's why we became fearless in the moment," said Del Vecchio, who has done a masterful job keeping this team moving forward. "I've never been more proud of a team because of it."

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