Single-School Update: Making the Final in Two Different Ways
Single-School Update: Making the Final in Two Different Ways
St. Ignatius and Gonzaga will meet up in the Boys HS Nationals SIngle-School final after both won semifinals Friday.
The two teams won their games in very different ways.
Gonzaga
The Gonzaga Eagles beat the Eagles of St. Edward 52-0. The St. Ed's seniors had rushed off back to Cleveland to walk for graduation, with several of them graduating with honors. They then trekked back to Elkhart, Ind. to get some sleep and play in the first game of the day on Friday.
Maybe they were a bit flat. But more to the point Gonzaga was excellent. There are few first halves for a high school rugby team that looked as good as Gonzaga's vs St. Edward. They executed their game plan, put St. Ed's under pressure with kicks, forced scrums in the middle of the field, and then scored off them.
This was thw first time that Gonzaga Head Coach Peter Baggetta had been able to field this exact 15, and it was impressive. No. 8 Conall Brannan was especially imposing, and hooker Alex Jancy put in a ton of work. Ethan Heim logged 17 points and eight different Gonzaga players scored tries.
They were direct, elusive, brutal, and shifty. St. Ed's probably should have been given a try for Conor McGurk's truly exceptional kick-and-chase, but it was clear that it was Gonzaga's day.
St. Ignatius
The wind at Moose Rugby Grounds started strong for Gonzaga's game, got stronger for St. Ignatius, and then faded. Certainly playing with the wind was good in this matchup between Ignatius and Herriman.
The Wildcats used the wind to help put Herriman under pressure, and looked like they might score at any moment. Herriman held on, but finally, when the wind help up a kick, fullback Tommy Kilbain caught it on the gallop and raced through for a try.
Ignatius played very smart rugby, won the territorial battle in the first half, and took points when Herriman infringed. Jimmy Collins knocked over two penalty goals before Teagan Frrain sped down the sideline to make it 18-0.
But things changed after that. The second-half kickoff pinned Herriman in their 22, and then a strange clash saw Ignatius co-captain and tighthead Davey Kotnik seemingly to flip a Herriman player over and onto his head. The game was halted, the Herriman played was tended to (eventually he was taken to a hospital but all reports are that he was moving and doing OK considering the circumstances). Kotnik, despite referee Tom Foley saying he didn't think there was intent to injure, got a red card for dangerous play.
Ignatius played the remaining 29 minutes or so down a man, and finished the game down two thanks to a yellow card. Almost that entire second half saw Herriman with the ball, but the Ignatius defensive effort was astonishing, led by Leo Ference and Brian McGrath in the midfield. Herriman did score, but couldn't get their conversions over and Ignatius held on 18-10.
The Wildcats will be without Kotnik for Saturday, but their ability to just keep playing despite whatever is happening is impressive.
Also ...
Xavier rebounded from a tough loss to Gonzaga on Day One to beat an injury-hit St. Thomas Aquinas 50-11. Maxwell Wyckoff scored two tries and so did Emir Yuksel to pace the Knights. Meanwhile, in a bit of a shocker, Greenwich, which had lost by a massive margin on Day One, held off St. Martin Kingfishers 18-5. This was a game about defensive pressure and tenacity. A key chargedown turned a scoreline of 8-5 into a 13-5 lead for Greenwich and set the table for a nice win.
Greenwich will play Xavier for 5th, and STA will play St. Martin for the fourth time this year for 7th.