Quick Hits 👊

🏟️ La Salette Midwest Champs
La Salette keeps putting people on notice. At the Midwest Boys Championship in Elkhart, Indiana, they knocked off Penn HS (IN) and St. Edward (OH) before taking down Bishop Dwenger (IN) 30–5 in the final.
Right now, they’re sitting just behind St. Ignatius (OH) in the Midwest pecking order.👀 

📈State Playoffs ramping up everywhere
This is a really fun time of year. In some ways, the state tourneys give us a better idea where teams stack up than nationals do. Actually let me rephrase that—state playoffs set the stage perfectly for nationals, and then nationals tells us something about each region in hindsight.
We have some game recaps below, so check those out.

💪 PA Rugby semifinals set
St. Joe’s Prep and Gregory the Great will have a rematch (always a banger), while Doylestown hosts Malvern Prep this weekend (can Malvern slow Doylestown?).
More on both in Friday’s edition.

👀 Kansas has an intense final coming up
St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Martin’s will duke it out in the state final this weekend. It’s a rematch of last year’s “goat rodeo” final.

🗡️ SoCal = Big rematch on tap
Belmont Shore and SD Mustangs both made it to the SoCal final. Will Belmont make the adjustments needed to win after losing last time they met? Will the Mustangs crank things up a notch and beat their rivals twice in one season? Color me intrigued.

 📣NorCal final set
SFGG defeated De La Salle, while Granite Bay bested Danville. This sets up the NorCal final between the two squads that have separated themselves from the pack in the NorCal meat grinder. Their last showdown was decided by three points. Buckle up.

💥Georgetown Prep finally beats Gonzaga
This was a big moment for the Georgetown boys, parents, and fans who have long lived in the shadow of their cross-town rivals. They’ve quietly been enjoying a very solid season this year—and this is one of those wins you put in the yearbook.

🏆 Xavier (NY) crowned in CHSAA
With a 54-7 victory over St. Anthony, Xavier captured the Catholic High School Athletic Association title. Perhaps not a shocking result—they are near the top nationally after all. But hey, another feather in the cap before heading to nationals? Have yourselves a season, Xavier!

⚔️ LCA vs Cavemen rematch incoming
With LCA’s victory over East HS (UT), and Cavemen’s dominant win over Kearns (UT), the state final is set for this weekend—and it’s a doozy. Cavemen vs LCA “round 1” was a 5-5 draw. Grab the popcorn, folks.

🏉Funny Anecdote:
On Sunday, La Salle (PA) and Gregory the Great (PA) faced off in an important Pennsylvania D1 match. GGA won 27-10, but the amusing part happened after the game.

When the La Salle boys were heading back to the bus they noticed the GGA boys doing their post-game ice baths—a generous term for kiddie pools filled with ice in the parking lot.
Well, it started with some friendly chirping—turned into a challenge—and next thing you know the La Salle boys had joined the freezing cold festivities. There was laughing, some singing, and eventually the La Salle lads jumped back on the bus and headed home.

After an emotional game, it was a great moment of camaraderie.

“Everyone put their gloves down once the whistle blew,” said someone who saw it all unfold.

A rugby moment if there ever was one.

🏆Woodlands 58 — 15 Boks

In their first-ever clash with the Boks, Woodlands delivered a commanding performance to claim the state title. Their set pieces were a weapon all game long—relentlessly testing the Boks' defense and setting the tone early.

The Boks took a tough blow when they lost their starting fly-half to injury, and fans were frustrated by a few brutal hits from the Woodlands pack. Apparently, the ref wasn’t thrilled either—Woodlands played with 14 men for 40 minutes due to repeated disciplinary issues.

Even so, Woodlands never let off the gas. Their tactical control at the breakdown, clinical finishing, and ability to turn opportunities into points made the difference. Discipline will be something to tighten up before Nationals, but there’s no question who earned the trophy. That’s eight state titles for Woodlands since 2012 (!).

Their forwards laid the foundation with smart, physical play, and the backs were absolutely electric—finding creases and making the most of every chance they had.

A couple Woodlands players who stood out:

• Becket Barefoot | #4 | Sophomore
  A powerhouse with ball in hand and on defense. Made key turnovers at the breakdown, carried strongly, and crossed the try line. 

• Elijah Capiro | #12 | Junior 
  A constant threat with ball in hand, made big meters, tackled well, and showed great skill in keeping plays alive.

Congratulations to Woodlands—Texas State Champs! Next they’ll turn their attention to the biggest date on the calendar—nationals.

Okapi 38 — 0 Tampa

In a very physical matchup, Okapi pulled away and punched their ticket to the state final.

There’s a highlight reel circulating on the socials from this game (link below). The thing that stood out to us was how many difficult kicks the Okapi boys slotted—and those big Floridian trees did a great job catching the ball.

The first half was where Okapi did most of the work. They controlled the tempo and headed into halftime with a 24-0 lead. Tampa was able to disrupt their rhythm slightly in the second half, and the Okapi boys lost a bit of momentum. But they still held Tampa scoreless, put some more points on the board, and claimed a spot in the state final for the third year in a row. That’s where they’ll face Key Biscayne, the only team to have beaten Okapi this year.

We probably don’t need to tell you, but it’s going to be a hell of a rematch. 👀

🏆Strake Jesuit 17 — 10 Dallas Jesuit

The beginning of the match between these two teams was a bit sloppy, as both sides struggled with mishandled balls in contact. But the tackling was sturdy, and neither team budged an inch during the opening 10 minutes.

Dallas Jesuit started the scoring with a string of offloads down the left side of the field. The kick came up short, but Dallas took a 5–0 lead and the early momentum.

They continued pummeling Strake throughout the first half with aggressive runs and quick recycling, but Strake held firm defensively and didn’t let them break through again. Finally, after keeping the ball in hand for several minutes, they swung it wide, broke a tackle, and dotted the ball down in the corner to tie it 5–5 (after the conversion sailed wide). That’s where the score stood at halftime.

Strake struck first in the second half. From a scrum near midfield, their outside center found a gap in the Dallas line and burst through, dodging one defender and racing to the try zone. Again, the conversion was off the mark, keeping the game 10–5 in Strake’s favor with 30 minutes to play.

Dallas responded with a score of their own, using ferocious running on the perimeter and a burst into the Strake try zone. A gusty wind kept the conversion wide once again, bringing the score to 10–10 with about ten minutes left.

This one felt like it could go either way.

And then a phenomenal individual effort from Strake’s scrum-half turned the tide. At the edge of a ruck, he took a quick glance at the Dallas defense—dummied a pass, took it himself, and hit the turbo-boosters all the way into the Dallas try zone. This time the ball was placed right under the posts—kick successful.

17–10 Strake, a lead they held until the final whistle.

Strake Jesuit—Texas Varsity Cup Champions. A gritty win in a tough contest.

Cavemen 78 — 7 Kearns

The Cavemen didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard—and they didn’t look back. Kearns has a solid group of rugby players and did some good things throughout the game, but the Cavemen brought two ingredients that are hard to defend: exceptional size and serious speed.

Their battering-ram forward pack demanded constant attention, and their backline—barely smaller than the pack—found gaps all over the field. Sometimes it was crisp offloads and good support. Other times it was pure power and pace from an individual.

The score tells the tale.

Kearns managed to break through for a try in the first half, but by then they were already trailing by multiple scores—and they wouldn’t reach the try zone again.

Next up for Cavemen: an epic rematch with Layton Christian in the final.
Remember that 5–5 tie just two weeks ago?
Yeah…this one should be awesome.

📺 Reminder: The Utah State Playoffs are being covered by GOLS, and you can tune in here for the final on Saturday. 

Mustangs (CA) 61 — 14 Thunder Rugby (CA)

The Mustangs showed off their firepower in a clinical SoCal semifinal performance.

The scoring opened with a slick Will Barrett offload to Mateo Bresenden for the first try. A few minutes later, Bresenden crossed again—this time following some quality forward-pack work deep in the Thunder 22. Then Reece Reiter found the corner flag for another Mustangs try.
21 minutes in: 21–0 Mustangs.

Thunder responded with a manly-man run by their 8-man, who carried multiple Mustangs into the try zone. The conversion was good, bringing it to 21–7 at the half.

Then Shay Farkash—Mustangs flanker and certified menace—opened the second half with an individual moment of brilliance. He blitzed toward the Thunder backline on a shaky pass, tackled the ball carrier, poached the ball, and broke a couple tackles en route to the try zone.

Thunder managed another score to bring it to a respectable 28–14, but the Mustangs hit the gas from there.

Spencer Huntley and James Curtis left their fingerprints all over the second half. Huntley launched a beautiful chip kick that Curtis grounded for a try. Then the duo took turns feeding teammates from the scrum-half position, setting up a flurry of second half scores—Sam Violett (hat trick) and Reece Reiter (his second of the day).

Curtis capped it off by busting loose from a ruck and racing in for a long try to seal the 61–14 win.

Next up: the SoCal final vs. Belmont Shore.

The Mustangs won the first matchup 29–5 back in March—but Belmont has been on a tear since. And they’ll be looking to settle the score.

Don’t miss it.

Worth noting: While the score might suggest otherwise, Thunder boasts an imposing group of players. In fact, they held possession for long periods during the game and made the Mustangs work incredibly hard to regain possession. Which makes the Mustangs defensive performance all the more notable—they were able to keep Thunder’s bruisers out of the try zone on multiple occasions while backed up in their own 22. Good stuff.

Granite Bay (CA) 20 — 3 Danville (CA)

Granite Bay is headed to the NorCal final.

This is always a brutal matchup. Granite Bay head coach Chris Miller noted “Danville plays us so tough. They are a smart, skilled, and physical team.” Add to that the fact that it was a playoff game, and the intensity was ramped up further. “It really felt like a playoff match,” added coach Miller, “intense, exciting, lots of skills, lots of big collisions.”

Granite Bay has had a phenomenal season this spring, taking care of business against the best NorCal has to offer. Now they face SFGG in the final—a rematch between these two after Granite Bay came away victorious in their first meeting. That game ended with the razor thin score of 29-26.

The stage is set.

Cue the nail biting—this NorCal final is gonna be a war.