Who Is Making an Impact in Fall HS Sevens?
Who Is Making an Impact in Fall HS Sevens?
We're taking a quick look around the Boys HS 7s scene this fall.
As fans know, different regions address 7s differently. Some play 7s somewhat recreationally, some have a very defined season with a championship at the end, and some don't play at all.
Here's a look at what we can tell you.
Rugby PA
LaSalle College HS went into the third week of competition unbeaten, but they found themselves facing a depleted but unfazed Berks County team and lost. Berks had shown up missing several regular starters, and opened the day with a 17-0 loss to St. Joseph's Prep. However, when their coaches just told the players to relax, enjoy the day, and play to their strengths, they started to win.
With Bryan Henry powering through tacklers and offload, and with some savvy youngsters working hard in support, they fronted up well against LaSalle.
Meanwhile, LaSalle is still strong. They have some serious talent, with Charlie Donahue making smart plays and Charlie Desmond typical of the tall, rangy athlete they're able to produce. LaSalle's strength and curse is their depth. Coaches said they have a large number of players good enough to play on their 1st side, but that also means the combinations haven't quite clicked.
Two teams came to Pennsylvania from out of the state to look for stronger competition. Delaware United did that and ran into some losses in the top tier, but dropped to the second tier this week and found their footing a bit. Meanwhile, Greenwich made the trek from Connecticut for the second week in a row.
The experience has been a good one for the Cardinals as they tested their players.
"Here's there's a lot of competition and one team can beat another ... it's all over the place," said Aidan Byrne.
One team can beat you with speed, one with power, and one with good teamwork. It was a strong showing for Greenwich this time around with a win over LaSalle, but then a somewhat surprising loss to Doylestown.
That was the way of it all day in PA, with no team coming out of a grueling five-game schedule undefeated. In the overall standings, LaSalle still leads with a 12-2 record. Behind them is Delaware County at 7-4-2, but Delaware County plays in the lower tier, so really when you're talking about Tier 1 along, it goes: LaSalle, Downingtown, Berks, Doylestown, and then St. Joe's Prep. Greenwich isn't counted in the standings, but they would likely be 2nd based on the last two weeks.
Ohio
St. Ignatius kept up their winning ways over the second week of competition in Ohio North. Fielding seven (!) teams, Ignatius has a lot of players and their top two sides are looking solid, if not quite as explosive as last year's state championship 7s side. But they do have playmakers who featured heavily in Ignatius's national championship 15s run, including flyhalf/fullback Connor Gallagher and fullback/flyhalf Henry McGowan. With Max Reed scoring tries and Tommy Cummings and Alex Werner using their size and fitness, they are in good shape.
Another cross-border team here is West Pitt, which finds the trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland easier than Pittsburgh to the eastern side of Pennsylvania. West Pitt brings tons of power to their 7s and they did beat St. Ignatius B in impressive fashion last week.
In the South of Ohio, St. Xavier is looking to get to the state final again and they have the rugby IQ to do it. However, Marysville did hold them to a tie, and Dayton is always dangerous.
Indiana
Max Inman has been key to a very good start for Mudsock, however, they were upended by Bishop Dwenger this past week.
Then, not to be outdone, Penn, led by Braxton Bontrager, Alessio Retzloff, Aiden Rogers, and Caden Smith, came through with a 26-7 win over Zionsville, a 44-0 shutout of Homestaed, and then a 17-0 win over Dwenger.
Right now that's the chase.
Colorado
Valor and East HS lead the way in the Front Range, and they have been pretty close so far.
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