In this series, we're jumping in our time machine and looking ahead at some of the most exciting high school matchups coming in the 2025 spring rugby season.
Here's the plan: We are going to pick one matchup every other week to talk about, right up until the season starts.
Without further ado, here is the first matchup we are excited about!
Gonzaga vs St. Ignatius
When: 4/26/2025 Where: Mylan Park, WV
A Nationals Final rematch? Aww hellll yeah!
These two HS rugby titans have made a habit recently of punishing their seasonal opponents and then meeting each other at Nationals to duke it out. This game is one you’ll want to have circled on your calendar, guys.
2024 Nationals Recap
At the 2024 Nationals tournament, Gonzaga and Ignatius met in the final as they have in 2 of the past 3 years. Here’s a brief rundown of how that went:
Ignatius was first to put points on the board, courtesy of a penalty kick in the opening minutes. But Gonzaga stomped on the throttle immediately after that and dropped 28 points on Ignatius by half time. How’d they do it? Well, Gonzaga’s kick coverage - led by Kieren Downs (#10) - did a masterful job collecting every kick that Ignatius sent their way and kept Ignatius in their own half. Then the Gonzaga forward pack rampaged nonstop inside the Ignatius 22, setting up multiple tries. It felt like Gonzaga was in cruise control with a halftime score of 28-3. Get the ice baths ready!
“Not so fast” said the St. Ignatius boys.
When Ignatius received the second half kickoff, something was clear almost immediately: They weren’t going to be kicking as much. They kept the ball in their hands in the second half and it proved to be a solid halftime adjustment. Scoring two quick tries via athletic running and superb offloads, Ignatius brought the score to 28-13.
Then, when Gonzaga tried to get a little too cute with a no-look-behind-the-back pass inside the Ignatius 22, Ignatius’ Augie Sowinski scooped it up from the floor and outraced every Gonzaga player 80 meters to the try zone. It was a great run, and it made the score 28-20. Every Ignatius fan was on their feet cheering wildly.
But there was something about this particular Gonzaga team that felt calm, cool, and ready to respond - which they did. Kieren Downs glided through the Ignatius defense and set up teammate Brody Johnson for a try, and then Gonzaga scored another just minutes later with some hard-nosed runs by the forward pack.
Ultimately, Gonzaga took home the trophy with a final score of 42-25. This past year's Gonzaga squad had incredible depth and talent, and they put on a show all season. Winning the national championship was a nice exclamation point on a truly exceptional season.
While Ignatius came up short, it was a heckuva display of courage and resilience the way they nearly came back in the second half. Huge kudos to those boys.
Note: You can watch the replay of this game here. But you’ll need to skip to 7:30:00 (that’s hours) into the video to find this game.
2024 Season Highlights
Gonzaga:
Dominated throughout the season with incredible depth and talent
Showcased a calm and collected playing style, even under pressure
2024 National Champs
#1 Ranked HS in the USA (Goff Rugby Report)
St. Ignatius:
Claimed their 7th consecutive Ohio state title (!)
Seemed to get stronger and stronger as the year went on
2024 Nationals runner-up
#2 Ranked HS in the USA (Goff Rugby Report)
Key Questions for 2025
Gonzaga:
How will they fill the shoes of some of their recent graduates? Kieren Downs (Fly Half) and Kimani Laumoli (Lock) come to mind. I mean, Laumoli dragged about 25% of the opposing team into each tackle on him. That guy had Final Boss vibes.
Can they maintain their exceptional kick coverage and counterattack success? Head coach Peter Baggetta seems to make this a priority each season.
St. Ignatius:
Can they win ANOTHER state title and also return to the nationals final? It's a tall order, but they have some high-quality starters returning and a head coach, Dan Arbeznik, who knows how to get it done.
How will returning players like scrum half Mark French and forward Gavin Vollmer lead the team?
Team Strengths
Keep in mind that this is based on recent history - we can’t predict the specific strengths of each team - until the season is underway.
Gonzaga:
Excellent kick coverage. I've watched at least one of their games in person for the past 6 years, and they consistently have a cool-headed back three who rarely mishandle a kick and then make decisive counterattacks.
I don't have data to support this, but I'd be willing to bet that around 50% of Gonzaga's tries last season were scored directly after a team kicked to them.
Physically imposing forward pack. They’re tough to tackle and they are smart around the breakdown.
St. Ignatius:
Really excellent with the ball in hand. They have very athletic players in general and very good ball handling skills.
They look like a bunch of guys who play multiple sports, which translates well to the rugby field.
High energy. This team’s engine runs a little hotter than most. They play with relentless intensity in every game I’ve watched.
Looking Ahead
Both teams have lost talented starters to graduation, but both teams have great depth in their programs and several key starters returning too. I anticipate a very close match - and I expect to see Ignatius come out with some fire in their belly.
This game, scheduled for the end of April, should provide a barometer for how these two teams are trending. They'll each have several games under their belt at this point in the season and they should have their starting 15 locked and loaded.
—
Ipse, Chief Rioter
Stay tuned for the next Feature Matchup…..coming soon.
Do you have a matchup you’d like us to write about? Cool! Just drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to put it on our schedule.