Xavier, Rye take Hardware in NY
Xavier, Rye take Hardware in NY
Xavier and Rye won their finals in Rugby NY's last weekend of action.
Rye took the Tier 2 final, beating Chaminade. Rye took an early lead chasing down a long kick for space and exploiting a Chaminade miscue which was helped along by heavy rains on the day.
The ball rolled to the Rye chasers and in they went.
Rye went back to the same tactic moments later and this time they got a penalty—lineout, maul, try, and Rye led 14-0.
It was a very wet day and that didn't lend itself to slick ball-hamdling. The game slowed down a but as both teams made mistakes, and the footing meant the scrums themselves were a bit slopper.
Still, Rye was solid and Chaminade, slammed with penalties, had a tough time getting momentum going.
Final score 31-5 for Rye. Archer Fenton, Rye's fullback, was the one who launched those kicks, and he was outstanding throughout.
Xavier HS capped off an excellent season that saw them to the HS National Championship semifinals with a 35-24 comeback defeat of a very good Fordham Prep side.
Fordham Prep, led by Tyler Vujtech at No. 8, Tadhg O'Neill at scrumhalf, and center David Holahan, gave Xavier plenty of trouble and in fact led 24-17 with about 10 minutes to go.
With three minutes left the Knights tied it up with a try, and then marched right down to score again.
They iced it with a penalty. Captain and center Max Wyckoff was, as he as been all season, phenomenal.
For Xavier this was a hugely successful season with one of their strongest teams in recent years. They beat Gregory the Great, St. Edward, Gonzaga, Fordham Prep, Greenwich HS, and Strake Jesuit—all state champions or state finalists. They went 3-0 on their UK tour, and lost only to the top three teams at the Single-School National Championships, eventual champs St. Ignatius, eventual runners-up Herriman in a very close semifinal, and Notre Dame de la Salette on a last-second penalty goal in the national 3rd-4th game.
