The final is set for the Florida Boys HS state championship after Weston beat Naples soundly, and Orlando escaped Riviera Beach in a wild, and close, contest.

Weston started their scoring early, with some impressive backline play leading to outside center Evan Barada feeding winger John Powers for the score. Naples brought a physical defense, but Weston’s relentless attack tested them, and earned a penalty that flyhalf Matthew Mairowitz put over for a 10-0 lead.

Both teams continued to duke it out in the middle of the field until Weston got into the Naples half and Mairowitz once again kicked a penalty. Naples responded with a drive of their own that resulted in a successful penalty attempt.

Weston replied, getting a lineout in the Naples half. From there scrumhalf and captain Alex Ruiz cut through the Naples defense to score and make it, with the conversions, 20-3.

As the second half commenced, Naples attacked furiously and drove home a try off of a scrum on the 5-meterline. Naples flyhalf Brandon Rokela’s kick was good and it was a ballgame again at 20-10. But Weston immediately scored following the restart, with  Powers on the wing offloading to Mairowitz, who touched down in the corner. Mairowitz converted again to bring the score to 27-10. Weston continued the onslaught, with Powers taking home another try through an impressive grubber to bring the score to 34-10. Shortly after, Barada scored when he ran in support of prop Michael Murray, who had intercepted a pass and was galloping down the sideline.

The last phases of the match saw Weston eager to score more. Another shot at goal outside of the 22 Mairowitz three more points to end the match at 44-10. 

Head Coach Corey Carter was pleased with the performance.

“Our fitness level was good and I think that had a lot to do with it, but we have some things we can do better,” said Carter. “Our body position is still too high in contact. Still, our forwards played well, and we finished well against a fantastic defense. The game was much closer than the score shows.”

Center Arturo San Segundo didn’t get on the scoreboard, but was a huge part of Weston’s defensive effort, and lock Tyler Allen led the forwards.

Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, Orlando outlasted Riviera Beach Maritime Academy 37-34. With the score 34-32 in favor of Riviera Beach, fullback Justin Smith scored to give Orlando the win.

“The game was just back and forth all of the time,” said Orlando Coach Chris Quigley. “Riviera Beach is by far the fastest team we have seen. They do everything they can to keep the ball off the ground and make offloads. It’s tough to defense. We had to make our one-on-one tackles and not give their guys space.”

With some very speedy outside backs, RBMA traded Orlando try-for-try. But as time went on, the Orlando forwards started to wear down the RBMA defense.

Smith had a big game defensively and made some key runs, while lock forward Ieuan Nation was strong up front. Scrumhalf Chad Sasiadek had a lot of work to do, and he did it. With their speed, Riviera Beach needed fewer players to cover gaps. As a result, they committed large numbers to counter-rucking, which mean Sasiadek was reduced to digging the ball out of the ruck and trying to get the ball to his backs quickly. He did a solid job of that.

All of that translated to a dramatic win for Orlando, and sets up a huge final next week.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Quigley. “Weston are an outstanding team.”

Additional reporting by Alex Ruiz