Gonzaga Classic

We posted a quick hit about Gonzaga’s performance, but a few other squads stood out too.
Fort Hunt had a terrific weekend despite losing the final to Gonzaga. Their highlight was an intense, gritty 15-14 win over SC Barbarians in the semifinal. Down 14-12 with under a minute to play, it all came down to a penalty kick attempt by flyhalf Hamilton Carter. He nailed it, and Fort Hunt advanced.
SC Barbarians took third place (more on them below) and we found a lot to like about their team. Clayton (NC) made highlight plays throughout the weekend, but just needed a little more consistency to take down teams like Fort Hunt or Gonzaga.

Overall it was a phenomenal weekend of rugby, and it was terrific to see several Gonzaga alums on the sideline cheering the lads on.

Montana Invitational

The headline might be “Herriman cleans house”, and that’s not wrong. The boys from Utah solidified their reputation as the scariest school team in the nation. Their 40-0 win over Sacramento Jesuit was the biggest head-turner. Herriman is a monster.

But, there’s another story that we don’t want you to miss: Missoula (MT) didn’t dominate the tournament, BUT their win over Kahuku (HI) was a deciding factor for the nationals committee accepting them to Nationals in Elkhart. Missoula is building a reputation for being a well-organized, hard hitting squad. They should fit right in at Nationals and we’re stoked to see them get a shot on the big stage.

Great Midwest Classic

St. Xavier (OH) was the standout in this one. They went 3-0 and put up a ridiculous 124 points (and only gave up 5).

Moeller (OH) also had a strong weekend, cruising in their first two games before falling 0-19 to St. Xavier.

Riot Take:
Huge congrats to Doylestown, Okapi, Thunder, Carmichael, and Missoula for joining the competition after missing out last year.

It’s a bit of a head scratcher that only one team represents NorCal. Yeah, maybe not many teams applied, or maybe some dropped out of consideration. But NorCal is such a strong rugby region — a national tournament feels a bit incomplete without more NorCal teams in the mix.

The School Division looks exactly the same as last year, minus St. Thomas Aquinas (KS).

Teams we wish were attending:

Pure wish list here. Don’t read too much into it.
We don’t know who all applied (ahem, that would be nice to know), and I’m sure some of these teams cannot attend for a variety of legitimate reasons.

Red Mountain | Arizona
The Knights just put the cherry on top of a tremendous season. We’d been hearing about this team since January, and they did not disappoint. With a win against the defending state champs, Tempe, the Red Mountain Knights can hang their hats on a 10-3 record and a state trophy to boot. Well done!

Jesuit New Orleans | Louisiana
Jesuit NOLA took down Brother Martin in an edge of your seat battle. It came down to the last play of the game—with a Brother Martin winger being tackled into touch literally one meter from the try line. That’s how close this 33-29 game was—fitting for a state title, which belongs to Jesuit New Orleans. Congrats!

School: Celina vs St. Thomas Houston
Celina has been on fire. They lead the nation in average points scored per game and probably feel great about themselves after dispatching Dallas Jesuit in semis. St. Thomas, meanwhile, defeated Strake Jesuit to land a spot in the final. Should be a cracker.

Club: Woodlands vs Barbarians
Woodlands filled a gap in their schedule with a match against Bixby (OK) last week, taking a close victory on the road. Barbarians will be chomping at the bit for this rematch. They were on the losing end of a tight 10-0 match with Woodlands earlier this season. Plus, they’ve already proven their resilience by taking down the Spartans last week, after losing to them earlier. Can they become the rematch kings and take down Woodlands too?

📺 Texas Playoffs will stream here.

This weekend, playoffs begin in Utah. Herriman and Cavemen are in separate divisions this year, so we won’t see that matchup again. But Highland could shock some people in the Club division—they’re coming off a strong win over Liberty (WA) and have been in the mix all season.
LCA is always a tough out, and they honestly haven’t received enough love this year despite earning another nationals bid.
But, Cavemen remain favorites on the Club side of things.

Herriman vs East is always an emotional banger. That’s a match to watch for sure, even if Herriman are favorites.
We’re keeping an eye on Brighton and Mountain View in their respective divisions. They’ve got dark horse energy.

Club semis:

Cavemen vs Highland

Layton Christian vs Mountain View

School semis:

Herriman vs East

Brighton vs Mountain Ridge

📺 Watch all the action with GOLS

🏟️ Midwest Invitational

This weekend, eight high-caliber teams take the pitch at the Midwest Invitational. It’s a chance for several squads to test depth and prepare for Nationals, and a shot at regional bragging rights for everyone.

Here’s who plays in the top division:

St. Ignatius (OH)
St. Edward (OH)
ND De La Salette (IL)
Neuqua (IL)
Penn (IN)
Dwenger (IN)
Pulaski Roos (WI)
SLUH (MO)

Notably, St. Ignatius will be without their seniors, who will be dancing their socks off at prom. But they’re a deep squad and we expect them to perform at a high level nonetheless.
St. Ed’s and Dwenger each notched big wins last week and will look to build on those performances.

In the second tier, we’re excited to see how Chesterton Academy (IL) does. We featured them recently as a team to watch—here’s a great opportunity to put their stamp on the region.

We’ll follow up after the tourney 👌

Two players. Different positions this year. Both crushing it.

Last year, when the SD Mustangs and Charlotte Cardinals faced off in the National Title game, Dylan Trower lined up at flyhalf for the Mustangs while Luke Zehmke played inside center for the Cardinals. Both players represented the USA U18s team in South America last summer.

Now, they’ve swapped places. Trower switched to inside center for the Mustangs, while Zehmke has taken on flyhalf duties this year for the Cardinals.

How’s it going?

Well, Dylan Trower “has been a revelation” at inside center, according to Mustangs coaches and fans. To our eyes, inside center has opened up a new level for Trower. He’s been thriving with the added physicality and ball-carrying required at center. Already equipped with one of the strongest passes in the nation, Dylan’s playmaking ability has blossomed this year and added a new dynamic to an already imposing Mustang attack.

He can carry into contact and push the gain line himself, but as soon as defenses start to sit on that, he’ll send a rocket pass out wide to his speedsters on the edge.

Luke Zehmke, for his part, has been a total boss at flyhalf, dating back to December with Charlotte Catholic. He brings a violent skillset to the position as well as an up-and-under kick that torments opposing defenses. His rugby IQ and situational awareness are top notch — every decision he makes has a purpose. On the defensive side of things, Zehmke shuts down any threat in his channel and rarely misses a tackle.

Zehmke’s switch to flyhalf has an added benefit: Last year’s Cardinals’ 10, Max Colson, has moved to fullback this season, giving the Cardinals a lethal duo and the ability to play with a split attack whenever they please. A true nightmare to game plan for.

With Nationals less than three weeks away, we couldn’t be more excited to see if the Mustangs and Cardinals make it to a rematch.

If they do, Dylan Trower and Luke Zehmke are names you absolutely must have circled in that clash.

As we enter playoff season around the country, we’ll need your help keeping the game schedule up to date so we don’t miss your team’s results.

For regular season, we were able to upload many of your schedules in advance. But for playoffs, your schedules are more dynamic and we can’t always keep up with who is playing who.

So:

As always, thanks for helping us shine a light on your team. You can reach me anytime by simply replying to this email.

Cheers!

Zach — Chief Rioter

Oddball musings, thanks to the cold tub.

🤑 Bad business idea: Caffeine infused mouth guards. There’s probably a market for it, but just don’t.

🧐 Dropping rugby balls out of the sky feels like Red Bull saying “we want to do something with rugby, but we’re not quite sure what.” Still kinda fun to watch.

💭 Serious thought: Something tells me we’re going to see more regional competitions come to life in the high school rugby scene over the next few years. Nationals isn’t for everyone, but something beyond a state championship? There’s an appetite for that.