Hey there, Rugger!
👊 Happy Friday.
State playoffs galore this weekend.
You’ll want to tune in for the NorCal Club Championships. It’s all being live-streamed by the studs at TVX Sports Video.
Plus, we’ve got some initial thoughts on Nationals seeding, and some players to watch.
Packed with rugby. Let’s go 👇
🇺🇸 HS Boys Nationals
May 21-23
Elkhart, Indiana
📺 NorCal Club Championship & Livestream
Saturday, May 9th
Boys Silver Division: Chico vs Santa Cruz
10:00 AM PT
Boys Gold Division: EPA Razorhawks vs Carmichael Hawks
12:00 PM PT
Boys Premier Division: SFGG vs Lamorinda
2:00 PM PT
Girls Gold Final: Harlequins vs EPA Razorhawks
4:00 PM PT
📝 Storylines
📊Nationals seeding
We caught a glimpse of the seeding for Nationals and there were a couple surprises:
Sacramento Jesuit at the 6th seed is peculiar. We thought they’d come in at the 5th seed at least. Not sure what the deal is there…
Carmichael as the 8th seed in Tier 2 is bonkers. They’re going to surprise some people in Elkhart.
We’ll publish the full seeding picture once we have clarity that it’s final.📉 Idle teams drop, others jump
Charlotte Cardinals have been in rest and recovery mode for a couple weeks. That means their #1 ranking status in the Riot Rankings took a hit as other teams collected points. The Cavemen picked up a bonus for their state semifinal win, and narrowly overtook the Cardinals this week for the number one spot.
The Mustangs have been consistently dominant, but—as we’ve explained before—their volume of games is simply lower than the three teams above them, keeping them at number 4 for now. Woodlands also picked up bonus points for winning Texas, which bumped them to #3.
If we were to do a purely opinion-based ranking, we’d have the Cardinals and Mustangs neck-and-neck at the top.
🧐2 teams… underrated?
Dwenger (IN)
Bishop Dwenger was impressive in their Midwest Invitational run. They don’t always dominate the national narrative, but wins over La Salette and St. Ignatius (sans their seniors admittedly) should see Dwenger get a little more chatter.
Liberty Patriots (WA)
Maybe we missed something… but Liberty Patriots just popped onto our radar like a lightning bolt. That’s because they defeated the Eastside Lions last weekend 28-7. Eastside has been the creme de la creme in Washington state—so this result stands out big time. Are Liberty the most underrated team in the Pacific Northwest? Or are we missing some major details here?
State/Regional Playoffs
SoCal Finals
Premier Division: Mustangs vs Thunder Rugby
The SoCal Final is often loaded with Nationals implications. Not this time around. The Mustangs are locked in at the number 2 seed, and Thunder isn’t fighting for a Nationals spot either—they already did enough this season to earn the #5 seed in Elkhart.
Nonetheless, we’re curious to see how this match goes down. Last time they played was back in March, and the Mustangs won 38-17. That was actually the closest anyone has played the Mustangs this season—which tells you a lot about their class. But Thunder packs a punch and could definitely make it a lot closer this time around.
NorCal Finals
The Premier division final is our game of the week—check it out below.
In the Gold Division, we have a fascinating game between the EPA Razorhawks and Carmichael Hawks. These guys played just two weeks ago and it came down to the wire. Carmichael won that one 10-7, but sources tell us it could’ve gone either way. Who’s gonna grab the reins this time around?
Fun Fact: EPA Razorhawks beat Carmichael last year in the 3rd place game after losing to them during the season. Can Carmichael flip the script?
Florida Finals
We’ve got some familiar names in the Sunshine State. Key Biscayne gets another crack at Okapi for the state title after losing in last year’s championship game 20-12. More recently, Key Biscayne defeated the Wanderers 14-7 during the regular season.
But Okapi already knew they’d earned a spot in the state final, so it’s possible they were resting some tired bodies in that one.
Okapi may be favorites heading into this match, but it will be interesting to see how they use their bench. That’s because the Wanderers have Nationals to prepare for, and depth is everything in Elkhart. Even though this is a state title match, there’s an argument to be made for giving younger players some minutes—they’ll need that experience in a couple weeks.
Pennsylvania Semifinals
Doylestown is heavily favored in their match against St. Joe’s Prep this Sunday. Nobody has really challenged DTown this year in PA—their size and speed are simply crushing opponents. St. Joe’s will need a Herculean effort to keep this game within striking distance.
On the other side of the bracket, Gregory the Great and La Salle face off in what might be a sneaky banger of a matchup. GGA won their regular season showdown 48-15, but Pennsylvania is weird, and I wouldn’t assume the same type of result this Sunday.
Case in point: La Salle just lost to Doylestown 17-26—by far the closest anyone has played DTown.
Was Doylestown resting starters? No idea. Has La Salle dramatically improved over the past month? Definite possibility.
Gregory the Great still comes in favorites, and hold home field advantage, but this might be closer than you’d think.
Virginia Final
Fort Hunt vs Richmond Griffins
A curtain-raiser for Old Glory vs Seattle Seawolves, this is the 3rd year in a row these two squads have met in this match.
Last time they played, Fort Hunt went down a man due to a red card, and still earned the victory with 14 men on the pitch. But Griffins have athletes aplenty, and a strong coaching staff. Plus, Fort Hunt is down a couple starters due to injury — so this one could be close.
Utah Finals
Cavemen vs Layton Christian
Oooo this is a cool one. LCA has been a bit under the radar this year, but they’re one of the best clubs in the country, make no mistake. Cavemen have been mostly consistent this season, though it feels like they haven’t yet reached their ceiling.
What you can absolutely expect from this match is extreme physicality. That’s Utah rugby.
Herriman vs Mountain Ridge
Herriman has looked borderline unstoppable versus other school teams this year. They boast size and speed across the park, and a special group of players in leadership roles. Mountain Ridge bested a strong Brighton team to land a spot in the final. Can they slow down Herriman with all the marbles up for grabs?
Kansas Semifinals
St. Thomas Aquinas vs St. Martin’s
Aquinas has struggled this year. And St. Martin’s has played like a top 5 school team all season. But rivalry matches tend to inspire heroism or, at least, massive effort.
Expect St. Thomas Aquinas to come out swinging.
Wichita vs KC Jr. Blues
This one’s interesting…
They split their games this spring, and both lost to St. Martin’s.
KC Jr. Blues are prepping for a trip to Nationals—it would be good for them to get some momentum in state playoffs before heading to Elkhart. Wichita, meanwhile, continues to be a program on the rise. A trip to the state title would be an impressive feat for this young squad.
👀 Players to watch
Markus Guerrero | Charlotte Cardinals | Scrumhalf
Though only a sophomore, you should know Markus Guerrero’s name. He’s not usually the Cardinals’ starting scrumhalf (that’s the talented Andrew Kuhn), but when he comes off the bench the game takes a notable shift. Super shifty on the move, he provides quick service from the ruck and is a sneaky attacking threat whenever he has the ball in hand. Add in a strong box kick and this kid is the real deal.
Cash Lazard | Carmichael | Hooker
Every time we watch his film we forget he’s a hooker. That’s because he does a bit of everything and has tremendous ball skills. Cash is a clever ball carrier and a stalwart on defense. Included in his bag of tricks is taking kickoffs. Shout out to hookers everywhere — Cash Lazard is carrying the banner.
💥 Certified Banger Alert
Not a playoff game—still a banger.
Trumbull (CT) vs Greenwich (CT)
A Connecticut showdown between two red hot teams. Greenwich are the reigning state champs and Nationals invitees, but Trumbull has built a strong resume and fields a superb roster of ballers. This one could go either way.
🎯 Banger score: 9.1/10
Trumbull fullback Reece Berowsky goes airborne vs Staples for a try. 👊
📸 Meral Kat Photography
🖨️ Hot off the press
🏆 St. Ignatius (OH) wins Cavoli Cup 2026
The Cavoli Cup is staying with the Wildcats for another year.
In what’s becoming a theme this year, St. Ed’s varsity kept this game very close for a long time—it was tied 7-7 well into the second half. But Ignatius was sharper at the set-piece, particularly lineouts, and pulled away to take a 21-14 victory.
With the first leg of the Cavoli Cup also belonging to the Wildcats, St. Ignatius takes the Cup with a 19-10 total team score over St. Edward.
Side note: St. Ed’s Freshman team beat St. Ignatius’ Freshman team in both legs of the Cavoli Cup. There’s some serious depth in the pipeline.
Not sure what the Cavoli Cup is? We covered that last year, right here.
Fordham Prep (NY) defeats Rye (NY)
What a way to finish the regular season. Fordham Prep was electric and aggressive in their 21-5 victory over Rye yesterday. This team has some swagger going into New York playoffs, having beaten Chaminade—and now Rye.
SFGG vs Lamorinda
🏆NorCal Club Premier Final
🗓️Saturday, May 9 — 2PM Pacific
🎥 Watch it here
Two powerhouse NorCal clubs trading blows for a regional title—all live-streamed with commentary. What more can you ask for on a Saturday afternoon?
SFGG has been dominant this year, going 10-0-1 (including a couple New Zealand matches on tour). Nobody in NorCal has beaten them in 2026. They have a loaded roster and a group of seniors who’ve caught the eye of elite college programs.
Lamorinda, for their part, have stacked impressive wins in the meat grinder that is NorCal Rugby. Buoyed by a group of players who have risen through Lamo’s youth system, this squad boasts high IQ leaders and a knack for striking quickly.
Thomas Parrot (#10) and Danny Dunne (#12) are the backline tandem you’ll want to pay attention to, while OC Lehner leads the pack at 8-man.
Bottom line: SFGG are the defending NorCal Champs, Lamo’s profile has risen quickly and they’ll look to put an exclamation point on 2026.
Public opinion couldn’t get much closer on this one👇
Voting closes tomorrow at noon. Click the image to cast your vote 👆
📺 Live tomorrow:
That’s a wrap, gang!
Next week we’ll have more dope rugby stuff to share with you; scores, highlights, stories… all the goods.
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Be well, ruck with gusto, and may your compression shorts always stay in place.
-The Rugby Riot Team