Emmitsburg, Md. - The West Shore United Boys Rugby Club went 3-0 at the Maryland Exiles International Rugby Festival, held this weekend on the picturesque Mount Saint Mary’s University Campus, to claim the top honors in the High School Boys Premier Division. West Shore defeated West Carroll, Md. in their first match by a score of 15-7. Jayden Demmy scored both of the West Shore United tries in the match. 

West Shore’s second match of the day would be against defending Virginia State Champions, West End. West Shore and West End had already met twice this season. West End soundly thumped West Shore United by a score of 51-5 on March 5th and West Shore United soundly thumped West End last weekend at the Jesuit Rugby Classic by a score of 40-14.  Saturday’s match would be the rubber match and both teams had all of their top players in the lineup.  West Shore had the wind at their back to start the match and used it to their advantage as the majority of the first half was played in the West End half of the pitch. West Shore also used their forward pack to starve West End of possession and scored the first two tries, the first by sophomore flyhalf Colby Rigg and the second by sophomore flanker Jacob Maddigan. Senior scrumhalf Cameron Welsh converted both tries to give West Shore United a 14-0 lead heading into halftime.

West End had the wind at their backs to start the second half and quickly capitalized as West Shore could not handle the high restart kick and knocked on. West End worked through several phases and touched down in the corner to cut into West Shore’s lead.  The conversion was missed in the tough wind and West Shore held onto a 14-5 lead. West End would put more pressure on West Shore, but the defense held strong and fullback Austin Waugh got West Shore out of danger with a strong counter attacking run after a chip kick from West End.  As the half wore on, both sides played excellent defense and neither team threatened until 4 minutes remained in the match. West Shore lost the ball in contact and West End quickly counter attacked. The ball found its way into the hands of the dynamic D’Montae Noble who beat three West Shore defenders and touched down to make the score 14-10 West Shore United. The conversion missed, but West End were a try away from the comeback and had all of the momentum.  West Shore United were able to regain possession after the restart and worked the ball through their forwards to eat up the clock. This tactic frustrated the West End defense and the eventually were pinged for a hands in penalty with one minute remaining in the match.  West Shore opted to kick for points as the penalty was 30 meters out in the center of the pitch. It was also directly into a strong wind that had impacted the match significantly up until that point as neither team was able to score on that end of the pitch. Cam Welsh calmly drove the kick right into the wind and through the uprights to give West Shore a 17-10 cushion with 30 seconds left in the match. West End would get one more crack as they gained possession on the restart kick . They worked the ball wide quickly, but a skip pass to the wing got caught in the wind, missed it’s target and bounced into touch. That ended the match and West Shore United had it’s second win over West End in six days. Final score, West Shore United 17-10 over West End. 

Sundays opponent would be the always strong McQuaid Jesuit from Rochester, NY.  West Shore sent a clear message that they were coming to play on the opening kick off. Sophomore wing, Patrick Duggan sprinted down to cover the kick and completed a full speed, text book tackle on the McQuaid player that received the kick. This caused a turnover that led to inside center Alex Schlager touching down for an early try that would be converted by Cam Welsh for an early 7-0 lead. West Shore never let up and took a 39-0 into the half led by fullback Austin Waugh and 8 man Sergio Acala who scored two times each in the first 22 minutes. The second half was more of the  same as Waugh would complete his hat trick and outside center Jayden Demmy and Welsh would add two tries each and West Shore United ran away with it by a final score of 68-0.

West Shore United has now won five matches in a row as their young players have gained valuable experience playing at the Jesuit Rugby Classic last weekend and the International Rugby Festival this weekend. They will need all of that experience heading into a key league match up versus Doylestown this Friday night at West Shore Stadium. The winner of that match will get the #1 seed for the Rugby Pennsylvania Division 1 State Championship Tournament.  The rights to the Gary Smith Memorial Cup will also be on the line in this intense Pennsylvania rivalry.