Highland Returns To Elite Level As Utah Crowns HS Champs
Highland Returns To Elite Level As Utah Crowns HS Champs
The finalists in Utah Youth Rugby's two top HS brackets have been decided.
Herriman will meet Highland in the single-school final of Utah Youth Rugby after both won semifinals Friday night.
Herriman, which has been at or near the top of the state for several years, hammered a strong Olympus side 59-5. In Saturday's championship, the Mustangs will face the one Utah team that beat them this year, Highland. That game happened back in March, when Highland edged Herriman 29-27.
Since then, Highland has hardly put a foot wrong. On Friday night, the Rams defeated Snow Canyon 38-25 to make the final. They did it by dominating possession through the forwards and not allowing Snow Canyon to get much going on offense.
Fullback Ben Berg and wings Siope Amone and James Pembroke did a solid job countering Snow Canyon's kicking game, and both Amone and Pembroke scored on long runs.
"The game plan was the pressure their flyhalf and neutralize their kicking game, and use our forwards to dominate possession," Highland head coach Dan Berg said. "We did all of that and also scored when we got it wide."
Captain Lilo Clark led the forward effort along with Ismael Vaifoou, Colton Pulver, and Jacob Kayser. Bryan Gaeertgens had a good day kicking despite the wind. This is an important return to the upper echelon of Utah rugby for Highland. The program that once dominated high school rugby on a national scale dropped off after longtime head coach Larry Gelwix stepped down to run an LDS mission in California. Coaches and players split off from the Rams to form a variety of teams, with Herriman, Olympus, and others being built out of what was once a Highland behemoth.
Working as a single-school team, rather than a club, Highland took a few years to rebuild, and is now the strongest it has been in the last eight years.
Saturday will also see the final of the Utah high school club championship, with West Valley facing Genesis. These two teams met about a month ago, with West Valley coming away as the 36-10 winner.
Herriman, which has been at or near the top of the state for several years, hammered a strong Olympus side 59-5. In Saturday's championship, the Mustangs will face the one Utah team that beat them this year, Highland. That game happened back in March, when Highland edged Herriman 29-27.
Since then, Highland has hardly put a foot wrong. On Friday night, the Rams defeated Snow Canyon 38-25 to make the final. They did it by dominating possession through the forwards and not allowing Snow Canyon to get much going on offense.
Fullback Ben Berg and wings Siope Amone and James Pembroke did a solid job countering Snow Canyon's kicking game, and both Amone and Pembroke scored on long runs.
"The game plan was the pressure their flyhalf and neutralize their kicking game, and use our forwards to dominate possession," Highland head coach Dan Berg said. "We did all of that and also scored when we got it wide."
Captain Lilo Clark led the forward effort along with Ismael Vaifoou, Colton Pulver, and Jacob Kayser. Bryan Gaeertgens had a good day kicking despite the wind. This is an important return to the upper echelon of Utah rugby for Highland. The program that once dominated high school rugby on a national scale dropped off after longtime head coach Larry Gelwix stepped down to run an LDS mission in California. Coaches and players split off from the Rams to form a variety of teams, with Herriman, Olympus, and others being built out of what was once a Highland behemoth.
Working as a single-school team, rather than a club, Highland took a few years to rebuild, and is now the strongest it has been in the last eight years.
Saturday will also see the final of the Utah high school club championship, with West Valley facing Genesis. These two teams met about a month ago, with West Valley coming away as the 36-10 winner.