St Thomas of Houston hosted Kingwood Friday evening in Rugby Texas play, and came away with an impressive 41-19 victory.

St. Thomas got off to a quick 5-0 lead on a bruising run by junior lock Michael Gentempo.  Several minutes later senior hooker George Michael followed with a short run for a 12-0 lead. But Kingwood responded nicely, scoring three tries in the latter part of the first half to lead 19-12.

St. Thomas replied in the second half with a try from junior lock Sam Yeboah from close in. Gentempo followed with his second try, regaining the lead for St. Thomas.

Senior prop Robert Gonzales followed with a short run to make it 31-19, and then senior center Michael Blanchard broke around the edge and tiptoed down the sideline for a nifty 60-meter run to put the game away at 38-19.

Scrumhalf Riley Bishop added a penalty kick to go with his three conversions for a 41-19 final score.

Senior No. 8 Josh Pane provided much-needed leadership for St. Thomas, and his younger brother Nick, a center, several runs. Sophomore flyhalf Eli Young played well with pinpoint kicking and tackling, and Griffin Maat made his first start at center (he’s usually a flanker) and impressed.

Coach James Wolverton described the match as " a tale of two halves.” St. Thomas, he said, overcame a sloppy first half with much improved intensity, accuracy, and pressure to take the win.  Kingwood was hindered by two yellow cards in the second half.

St. Thomas travels to the East Coast for a Spring Break trip this week, where they will take on Georgetown Prep in DC and Delbarton Prep out of New Jersey.

Also in Texas this week, Westlake really struggled to put away Rock Rugby, winning 15-12. Katy handled Cy-Fair 51-21, and Lamar defeated Memorial 37-19. St. Thomas is now 4-1 in the Rugby Texas South, while Katy sits 3-0-1. In the North-Central, Westlake barely keeps its unbeaten record at 4-0, with Rock Rugby right behind at 3-1 and Lake Travis at 2-1. Both Rock and Lake Travis suffered close losses to Westlake.