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Upsets throughout the U19 Boys’ competition set the stage for a Saturday evening rematch of last year’s final - a Utah showdown between Salt Lake City’s Highland Rugby and United Rugby Club (Alpine).
Highland met a tough match against Highlanders Rugby, Chapel Hill but advanced with a 31-15 in its tournament opener and is still on course to repeat its 2008 results, after pushing past the Kansas City Junior Blues 42-3 in the semis.
A win in the finals on Saturday would not only mean a second consecutive U19 title for Highland, but its nineteenth championship title in the history of USA Rugby’s High School/U19 Championships.
However, Utah United is out for redemption after falling short in the 2008 final, and proved fierce competitors on day one. United downed Union County (NJ) 24-5 in the first round and secured a 31-17 win over No. 6 seed West Shore United (PA), who kicked off the tournament with a massive upset over the No. 3 Westerville Worms (Ohio).
With just injury time remaining, a successful kick from West Shore fullback Steffan Cameron made all the difference, securing a narrow 16-15 victory over the Worms to advance to the third place match versus the Kansas City Junior Blues on Saturday.
KC opened the day with a convincing 17-5 win over the Los Angeles Cougars but proved no match for perennial powerhouse Highland Rugby in the semis.
The Cougars will face off against Westerville for fifth place. After falling just short versus West Shore United in a heartbreaking finish, the Worms found a 26-12 victory over Union County in the consolation semis. Union County will meet Highlanders Rugby in the battle for 7th place.
Leading the pack in the Boys’ High School division were reigning champions Jesuit High School (Sacramento), who now look to defend their title against Christian Brothers High School in the final match on Saturday.
Jesuit dealt Charlotte Catholic a commanding 50-0 shutout in the opening round of play and moved on from the semifinals with a redeeming 27-5 win over Xavier - a reversal of outcomes from the teams’ last meeting just two weeks ago when Xavier topped the Sacramento squad while on tour.
Christian Brothers did not have such smooth sailing to the final round. The team topped Indiana-based Penn High School 33-5 in its first game of the day but then met a tough battle against Gonzaga College High School, just barely coming away with a win, 25-22, to advance to the final on Saturday night.
Gonzaga will now meet Xavier for a shot at third place, an improvement from the 2008 Championships when the teams sparred for fifth place. Instead, this year’s fifth place match features Brownsburg RFC and Penn High School.
Brownsburg kicked off to a rough start in the losing end of a 43-0 shutout against Xavier, but then pulled off a shutout of its own, 24-0, against Charlotte Catholic.
Charlotte will meet St Thomas High School (Texas) in the seventh place match. St Thomas fell to Gonzaga 37-3 in its opening match but hung close with Penn High School in the consolation semifinals, resulting in a 14-12 final.
